You could make the argument that if there was a video game that was perfect to be turned into a TV series, it was The Last of Us. I played this on the PS3, then the remastered version for PS4, and over Christmas break, I played the remake. I love this game and I actually had no doubt it would make a fantastic TV series.
How to Download The Last of Us (TV series)
You can download or stream the film from HBO. Click on the Download button at the end of this review.
The Movie Review
You see, while I love The Last of Us (and its sequel) the best thing about the game is its story, it is pretty much like you are playing through a movie or TV show anyway. I felt that it would be relatively easy for someone to turn this into something else. By now, you probably already know that the general feelings are that this is great and I would have to agree.
The premise here is that there has been a global infection that has decimated the world. People are doing what they can to survive and most of the USA is living in these walled-off military-style states. It is a pretty grim time to be alive that is for sure and things just appear to be getting worse and worse.
The opening to The Last of Us is incredible! We get to see one of our main characters, Joel along with his daughter Sarah and his brother Tommy right at the start of this pandemic as they try to flee the city. It is a tremendous way to start the video game and I feel that they captured it nearly perfectly here.
We then fast forward 20 years and Joel is now living in a Boston quarantine zone where he along with his friend Tess are smugglers for anyone that will hire them. Casting Pedro Pascal as Joel was so smart, I will admit that at first, he did not “look” like Joel to me, but he completely nailed the part!
Joel and Tess are eventually hired by a woman called Marlene. Marlene is the leader of a rival military-style group called The Fireflies and they have very different ideas from the regular military and they are in a kind of war with them. Marlene has what is arguably the most important delivery job in history for Joel and Tess!
This is where we get introduced to our other main character, Ellie who is played by Bella Ramsey. I will admit when I first saw the very talented Miss. Ramsey, I was not sure she was right for Ellie. However, you should never judge a book by its cover as she does a great job of bringing Ellie to life.
Marlene wants Joel and Tess to take Ellie to another group of Fireflies outside the city. Ellie is no normal teenage girl, she was bitten by one of the infected, but she never turned, she is immune to this virus and that makes her the most important person in the world. I know that on paper, The Last of Us does not sound like it is anything new or fresh, but it is so captivating.
Eventually, it is down to Joel and Ellie to find the Fireflies and potentially save humanity. However, it is the way they bond along the way and the journey that the two take which really makes this amazing. I truly feel like they have captured the epic story told by the video game the best that they possibly could.
Are there changes here and there? Yes, there are, but as someone that absolutely loves the video game, I have no complaints about the differences in The Last of Us tv series. I do not actually see how someone could love the games and not love this. The sky-high production values and each episode being like a movie also add to the epicenes of the series. I would say that even if you know nothing about the video game, you will love this.
