The main series of winter is out. The film adaptation of The Last of Us turned out to be even too good

The Last of Us was released in 2013 and became famous for its cinematic storyline, colorful characters and high-quality dialogues. There is a sequel in 2020. And on January 15, HBO premiered the first episode of The Last of Us.

The showrunners of the film adaptation were Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann, the game director and screenwriter of the game.

The series stars Pedro Pascal (Narcos) and Bella Ramsay (Game of Thrones). The director of the first episode was Craig Mazin, the cameraman was Ksenia Sereda ("Dylda"). The music was written by a two-time Oscar winner (for the films "Brokeback mountain"and" Babylon ") Gustavo Santaolalla. It is noteworthy that in his life he made the soundtrack for only two games - The Last of Us and The Last of Us 2.

According to the plot, in 2003 a pandemic began, caused by a mutated mushroom. People became infected either when they inhaled the spores or when they came into contact with the saliva or blood of infected people. And they turned into zombies, rushing at healthy ones.

Builder Joel meets the start of the pandemic in Austin. The hero tries to take his daughter out of the city engulfed in chaos, but the military stops him on the way out. Following orders, the military shoots Joel and kills his child.

20 years pass. The protagonist lives in a safe zone on the outskirts of Boston and works for food stamps. Having lost contact with his brother, who lives in another city, Joel decides to go in search of a relative, despite the fact that it is forbidden to leave the city. The rebel group agrees to give him a car and supplies if he takes 14-year-old Ellie with him. They have to team up to survive and cross an America roamed by zombies, slave owners and cannibals.

Excellent use of the original

About a quarter of the first episode almost frame-by-frame recreates the start of The Last Of Us. The very beginning of the epidemic looked good in the game, in the series it was made more vivid and dynamic. Perhaps, only the appearance of individual characters has changed dramatically, which, of course, is not a drawback: it would be pointless to chase the appearance of the characters, this is not fan art.

A lot of the crossover between the game and the series can be found in the cast. In particular, Troy Baker, who voiced the main character in the game, appears in the series in a minor role. As did Ashley Johnson, who voiced Ellie.

But the main merit of the pilot episode - "The Last of Us" is obviously not in the league. film adaptations games. This is a full-fledged series that needs to be compared with series. And the first episode of The Last of Us is definitely better than the pilot of the main zombie hit of recent years, The Walking Dead.

Cruel post-apocalypse

The general rules for surviving in the world of the series are clear. The bite of the infected is deadly, there is no vaccine, and the state (or its remnants) cracks down hard on anyone who breaks the rules. So, for violation of the curfew, the death penalty is threatened, which is applied regularly. The image of a city that lives according to such laws looks impressive - it turned out to be the Middle Ages in American scenery.

Considering the plot, and the cannibals, and journey, begs comparisons to John Hillcoat's The Road. This picture served as an inspiration for the creation of the game, now its elements have migrated to the series. Individual episodes are reminiscent of Alfonso Cuaron's Child of Man - here it is also difficult to say what is more terrible: a virus or a state.

Despite the fact that almost every frame showing a post-apocalyptic city can be interpreted as a reference, The Last of Us still manages to synthesize its visual style. The cruelty and selfishness of individuals merges with the devastation and dirt of the "safe zone".

Bright heroes

Most of the characters are revealed through speech. The series takes into account that the game had good dialogue - but good for the game. The adaptation complicates and expands the speech of the characters.

Ellie looks especially good - a teenager who constantly swears and is ready to throw herself at any person with a knife (although she does not know how to use it). The result was a bright (even super-bright) hero, giving the story dark humor and teenage maximalism - that is, both cynicism and naivety.

Things are different with Joel. Before going to bed, he gets drunk with a distillate of unknown origin and seizes it with pills. Emotions bordering on madness are hidden behind external calmness. If he enters a fight, he does not stop until he crushes the skull of the enemy.

The scene at the beginning of the series shows what kind of world it is. lost due to the pandemic, so his subsequent behavior is understandable. It's hard to predict how his ferocity will manifest in the next episodes, but in the first episode he looks bright.

Joel and Ellie's relationship in the game was complicated. In the series, apparently, nothing will change. Communication on the verge of "You were forced on me" and "I'm worried about you", seasoned with Joel's tragic past and Ellie's teenage aggression, will become the emotional center of the project. It is impossible not to empathize with them, especially if you take into account the world that surrounds them.

The successful main characters give reason to believe that everything will be fine with the secondary characters, and they are very interesting: revolutionaries, “preppers", cannibals.

brilliant start

The first episode is definitely worth recognizing as successful. More than 80 minutes were spent on the background (even two), a brief introduction to the main characters, with a general description of the post-apocalyptic world and the motivations of the characters. The success of the following episodes (and the entire season) will depend on the pace of the story - you will have to surprise the viewer for nine episodes and increase the level of danger for the main characters. The abundance of bright secondary characters should add drive and madness to the story.

The Last of Us game has always looked like a project that will definitely be filmed. The potential problem (how not to make a frame-by-frame copy, but retain the spirit of the original) seemed difficult, but solvable. The first episode looks as good as if the problem never existed. This is an independent and self-sufficient project that is ready to please the fans of the game, but does not want to be led by them. The viewer, who knows nothing about the game, will get no less pleasure from watching.