The 2023 television adaptation of the 2013 action-adventure-survival-horror game “The Last of Us” is one of the best video games TV or film adaptations ever produced.
The entertainment industry, after numerous flops to recreate beloved video game stories into a different medium, has been entering a new era of actually good adaptations.
Whereas adaptations like “Arcane,” “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners,” “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” and the “Sonic the Hedgehog” movies find their roots by taking an already-existing world and characters and telling a completely new story, HBO’s adaptation of “The Last of Us” is a retelling of the original game’s story, beat-by-beat.
The story follows Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), a hardened smuggler surviving in a post-apocalyptic U.S. that is plagued by zombie-like creatures who have been infected by a fungal Cordyceps mutation. After a revolutionary organization known as the Fireflies approaches Joel, he must escort Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a teenage girl who seems to be immune to the infection, across the country in hopes of engineering a cure.
Although the TV adaptation of “The Last of Us” definitely had its ups and downs, the one thing that it consistently nailed was the world in which it takes place.
The backdrops of greenery and nature reclaiming skyscrapers, the grim hopelessness of the martial-law organized Quarantine Zones, the changing and struggles of each season and the overall grittiness are taken straight from the source material. It is conveyed perfectly on-screen — all supported by the game’s original and incredibly atmospheric soundtrack, composed by Gustavo Santaolalla.
The majority of the dialogue in the show — primarily the conversations between Joel and Ellie — is copy-and-pasted directly from the game’s script. This is a good nod to players of the game and brings comfort to those worried about the adaptation. It conveys that the directors cared enough about what they were adapting to mirror the game, sometimes even shot-for-shot, in the structure of its scenes.
However, when lifting pre-existing lines, you are inevitably setting yourself up for viewers to compare the adaptation version to the original delivery. Bluntly, the performances in the show pale in comparison to the game.
The video game versions of Joel (Troy Baker) and Ellie (Ashley Johnson) are prime examples of some of the best acting that video games have to offer. Bringing on Baker and Johnson to play side characters in the show was a nice touch of respect for both of them, and it was a joy to see the two on screen.
Pascal and Ramsey are both talented actors in their rights and performed well in their roles. However, the emotion from many scenes of the game — worry, rage, tension, fear and heartbreak — did not come across as believable in the show.
In the game, the relationship between Joel and Ellie begins distantly, and the two are very much at arms-length with one another. Then, as the story progresses, the walls between them are broken down so carefully and naturally that you barely even notice the chips hitting the floor.
In the show, it felt more akin to a switch being flipped off-screen between episodes toward the end of the season.
The television medium, as opposed to a video game, granted new opportunities for completely new content that was absent from the game.
In the video game, the player fills the shoes of Joel, and his perspective tells the story. The player can only see what Joel is physically sees and experiences (aside from two sections where Ellie is the playable character instead).
The TV show is not bound by these limitations; sometimes half or even an entire episode was dedicated to side characters, expanding on their backstories, relationships, personalities and development — with Joel and Ellie completely absent from the picture.
This new content was interesting, well-acted and made the world of “The Last of Us” feel much broader and alive. Other survivors were shown with full focus, coping with their struggles, rather than just the main two characters.
However, after watching the rushed finale, I cannot help but think that all of that time spent on other characters could have been used for the severely needed development between Joel and Ellie.
All that being said, HBO’s adaptation of “The Last of Us” is a serious step in the right direction for video game adaptations to streaming. It is simultaneously faithful to the source material and has room to breathe and stand solidly on its own two feet.
Fans of the video game who were skeptical of a potential television adaptation will undoubtedly feel the thought, attention and overall care poured into every episode of HBO’s “The Last of Us.”