It’s hard enough adapting books into movies, where screenwriters and filmmakers are burdened with having to take what’s on the page and somehow make it align with the ideas already in your mind. What more with a video game full of stunning imagery and iconic set pieces, with a storyline that is considered the best ever written for the medium, and characters who were immediately inducted into the pop culture canon. It feels odd to say that HBO’s The Last of Us finally breaks the curse of the video game adaptation. The original games by Naughty Dog and Sony were already so cinematic that it feels more accurate to call this a remake.
So what then makes for a great remake? It’s one that doesn’t try to replicate the original but capture its spirit, offer something new, improve details, fix some of its shortcomings, while still staying true to everything that makes it what it is. A great remake enhances the source material. And it’s exactly what showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have done here. The Last of Us is a masterclass in how to make something that will satisfy fans while being completely accessible to new audiences.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the game, the only thing you need to know going into this is that it is set in a post-apocalyptic present and tells the story of an unlikely pair, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), as they struggle across America in search for salvation. It’s about finding love in the unlikeliest of places and grasping for hope in the face of hopelessness. It’s about fathers and daughters. It challenges us with the question of what it means to be alive if all we’re doing is trying to survive. And it crouches all of this within a potent parable concerning humanity’s inconsequence in the face of nature’s wrath.
Having just survived a pandemic, we are living now with the the faith and confidence that human ingenuity will always triumph. That we will find a way to overcome any adversity. That we won’t just survive, but continue to endure. The genius of The Last of Us is that it completely undermines that belief, and by doing so, creates a truly terrifying experience. Yes, there are mindless monsters all around, but much like The Walking Dead before it, it is the circumstance that is the nightmare. For is there anything more frightening than inevitability?
And yet, these nine episodes are in no way a miserable experience. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann infuse every moment with real humour and genuine heart. There is sorrow here. This is a story that trades in tragedy, despair, and selfishness, but there is also an unyielding love which remains at the core of Joel and Ellie’s relationship.
And it’s perfectly portrayed by both Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. The both of them successfully channel everything we loved about these characters, giving us that same beautiful chemistry we got from the game, while adding to their humanity in interesting new ways. While it is never explicitly stated, you can tell from their performances that it’s the fear of losing one another that ultimately drives their decisions. It’s what gives them purpose.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It
HBO’s The Last of Us has also afforded Neil Druckmann (the writer and director of the original game) the opportunity to take another stab at his work. It’s so rare that writers and filmmakers get a chance to look back and “fix” their stories. Books, movies, TV shows, and video games are more often than not set in stone as soon as they’re put out into the world. Unless you’re George Lucas or Hideaki Anno, any seeming imperfections will likely haunt you forever.
With The Last of Us, Druckmann has refined almost every aspect of the game. There are changes here, but all of them are welcome, and every one serves to make your experience richer and more emotional. Bill and Frank, Henry and Sam, even Joel and Ellie, feel even more human. Every new character has a distinct purpose. And the world itself is so intricate, so cleverly designed as being close enough to our own, that it makes it impossible for us to extricate ourselves from the terror.
And I Feel Fine
Video game fans are notoriously hard to please. And who can blame them? Hollywood has broken their hearts so many times that they’ve just stopped hoping. (See: Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Street Fighter, Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil, Super Mario Bros., the list goes on, and on, and on.)
Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, however, seem to have cracked the code, which, on the face of it, seems driven by that age-old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The Last of Us video game was never broke. It just needed some polish. Which is exactly what they’ve done with here.
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