The Last Of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed (Picture: HBO)
Video game adaptations continue to have a bad reputation…. even though there’s actually been no shortage of enjoyable films and television based on games released in the past decade or so.
(Don’t believe us? Check out Takashi Miike’s brilliant 2012 Japan-language adaptation of the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games on Crunchyroll.)
The Last Of Us, however, based on the supremely popular video game first released in 2013, always looked like a safe bet. For a start, it’s a fairly conventional narrative told through two strong central characters with minimal padding and a real emotional gut-punch of an ending – so it’s ripe for adaptation.
And with the creator of Chernobyl, Craig Mazin, on board, alongside the game’s original writer Neil Druckmann, there’s some serious pedigree behind it to boot.
The story, for those not in the know, is about a pandemic that wipes out most of humanity. So far, so painfully familiar.
But, to its credit, The Last Of Us does feature a novel twist on the post-disaster genre, as its strain of humanity-ending flu comes not from the common cold but by a fungi that takes over its host.
The new series arrives on Sky Atlantic and NOW on January 16 (Picture: HBO)
It’s properly disgusting, which gives the world and its mutated hosts a distinct visual tone (you’ll never look at a mushroom tagliatelle the same way). Over the course of a barn-storming opening 30 minutes we see the collapse of the world played out in thrilling and explosive fashion.
A flash-forward to 20 years later and we catch-up with Joel (a supremely well-cast Pedro Pascal), who suffered a tragedy during the collapse of humanity, tasked with transporting teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey, best known as Lyanna Mormont from Game Of Thrones) across a ravaged America as she just might be the cure to the infection the world has been waiting for.
It’s the burgeoning relationship between these two that is the real heart of the story: the two actors have an father/daughter instant chemistry and seeing a cold, detached Joel slowly open up to someone who has no memory of a world that hasn’t gone to pot is what makes the all the bleakness worthwhile.
That and some tremendous action scenes, of course. Not only do Joel and Ellie have to contend with the hordes of infected humans (as well as those who have evolved in other horrifying ways – yes gamers, the terrifying Clicker is well-and-truly present) but there’s also the military, who went suitably fascist pretty quickly.
Then there are the freedom fighters/terrorists Fireflies who are causing havoc as they try to bring the military down, and your run-of-the-mill scumbags who are out in the world looting and murdering. It’s violent and gripping stuff.
This is all good news for those who have no experience with the video game: tune in and enjoy, it’s a wild ride.
The series has been adapted from the video game of the same name (Picture: HBO)
But what about those of us who know where this is going? Is there anything new for us to sink our teeth into? Yes and no.
It’s faithful to the game’s plot – which will no doubt please those who see the source material as sacred rather than a jumping-off point.
There is, however, more focus on the opening moments of the outbreak in Indonesia, and it explains why everything went wrong in greater detail.
But the biggest change is a bold third episode that completely rips up the script of a supporting character and creates something entirely new.
It takes a break from the oppressiveness to tell a more straightforward love story in a devastated world. It’s the kind of thing you rarely see in a video game (well, at least not in the big-budget gaming space) and shows the potential of swapping mediums. It’s quietly beautiful.
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The Last Of Us, then, is more than a decent adaptation of a very good video game. It is, at times, every bit the spiritual successor to Chernobyl in showing the damage humanity can do to one another.
It’s a touch too long at nine episodes, sure, and the pacing can sometimes feel sluggish, but if this is a sign of things to come from video game adaptations over the next decade (and there will be a lot of them) then game on.
The Last Of Us starts Monday, January 16 on Sky Atlantic and NOW.
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If this is a sign of things to come from video game adaptations over the next decade then game on.
