There's always been a storied past where video games and other medium fail to satisfy both spectrums. These experiences either became off tangent for fans and too much for regular viewers for both to accept and like. These tepid and lukewarm experiences are masters of none and completely forgettable. But finally, "The Last of Us" is the holy grail of video game adaptations if its first episode was any indication to where the series is headed to in its first season. And this is coming from huge fans of the video game series itself - we expected a lot and we got everything and more.
In 2003, a sudden worldwide outbreak causes modern civilization as we know it to quickly breakdown and end. Twenty years after, humanity barely survives. Joel (Pedro Pascal) is a hardened survivor who is hired to escort a young girl named Ellie (Bella Ramsey) outside their quarantine zone. As they traverse across the desolate and dangerous landscape of America, they must learn to depend on each other to survive.
Banger after banger. The first episode of "The Last of Us" was simply an astounding and outstanding achievement. The casting and performances of the main characters was almost perfect, the broad strokes will satisfy fans of the video game series, and the changes understandable and even added more depth to an already fully-developed narrative. "The Last of Us" was one of the few games wherein we truly felt a video game was able to provide a narrative that could rival the best shows and movies out there - and now that a full-blown series is at our heels, episode 1 proves that this is truly the case. The best moments for episode 1 was probably the best moments also that you can experience early in the video game. Without spoiling much, this would be the scenes involving the start of the outbreak in 2003. This was raw, intense, and brutal as expected and as needed to be to make viewers feel the visceral and unforgiving reality that the humans in this story had to contend with and have to contend with in future episodes. As expected, episode 1 heavily focuses on setting up future episodes so this features a lot of dialogue than actual intense sequences but this was well-paced as it was also able to show the harsh alternate reality of their world. Not everything needs to be explained through exposition and we felt this episode was able to be effective in its most quiet moments also. Overall, "The Last of Us" starts off on a riveting and momentum-pushing start. We're hopeful that it will be able to sustain the awesome start throughout the rest of the season as this material from Neil Druckmann is simply gold.
The Last of Us Episode 1 Review: Masterpiece in the Making
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