This was kind of fantastic!
The Last of Us is my favorite video game of all time. It means so much to me. The whole franchise does, both games and the dlc as well. I was initially excited when I heard the creator of Chernobyl (a perfect show) would be adapting the game into an HBO series. Thankfully, it's off to a very strong start.
The look and feel of the game is very, very close if not perfect. It looks and feels a lot like the game, but it's still pretty cinematic as well. I enjoyed finding every Easter egg and line of dialogue taken right from the game. It probably goes without saying that the production is amazing.
I think Pedro looks a lot like Joel and will be very, very good. Bella looks and feels enough like Ellie too. Looks don't mean everything... they are two legitimately great actors and are so far quite good here. I never had a doubt about either of these leads and they're so far spot on if you ask me. Gabriel Luna sounds JUST like Tommy. All of the casting is honestly great so far.
I think the very (very) small changes they made were necessary for those who haven't played the game and don't want to feel like they need to piece everything together, if that makes any sense. Nothing changed enough that it didn't get the gist of the set up right!
As far as added material? All great in establishing both the premise and the characters and where they'll be for the remainder of the show. The first act of this episode was brilliantly done. It was legitimately unsettling and anxiety-inducing, and I love that they added that interview broadcast at the beginning as well. People who haven't played the games were probably thrown in for a loop when Sarah died, thinking she'd be the main character after spending the entire first act with her. And yes, I did cry quite a bit... again...
This feels very dreadful and hopeless, like the games do. I'm actually quite excited for this show. I won't say it'll be perfect or live up to the game, but I think there's a lot they can do with the material. I have faith in both Crazin and Druckmann.
The Last of Us is my favorite video game of all time. It means so much to me. The whole franchise does, both games and the dlc as well. I was initially excited when I heard the creator of Chernobyl (a perfect show) would be adapting the game into an HBO series. Thankfully, it's off to a very strong start.
The look and feel of the game is very, very close if not perfect. It looks and feels a lot like the game, but it's still pretty cinematic as well. I enjoyed finding every Easter egg and line of dialogue taken right from the game. It probably goes without saying that the production is amazing.
I think Pedro looks a lot like Joel and will be very, very good. Bella looks and feels enough like Ellie too. Looks don't mean everything... they are two legitimately great actors and are so far quite good here. I never had a doubt about either of these leads and they're so far spot on if you ask me. Gabriel Luna sounds JUST like Tommy. All of the casting is honestly great so far.
I think the very (very) small changes they made were necessary for those who haven't played the game and don't want to feel like they need to piece everything together, if that makes any sense. Nothing changed enough that it didn't get the gist of the set up right!
As far as added material? All great in establishing both the premise and the characters and where they'll be for the remainder of the show. The first act of this episode was brilliantly done. It was legitimately unsettling and anxiety-inducing, and I love that they added that interview broadcast at the beginning as well. People who haven't played the games were probably thrown in for a loop when Sarah died, thinking she'd be the main character after spending the entire first act with her. And yes, I did cry quite a bit... again...
This feels very dreadful and hopeless, like the games do. I'm actually quite excited for this show. I won't say it'll be perfect or live up to the game, but I think there's a lot they can do with the material. I have faith in both Crazin and Druckmann.