HBO Max The Last Of Us review (SPOILERS!)
- Thread starter FakeSympathy
- Start date
Haven’t watched it yet but yeah, the whole point of it is basically Joel making a selfish personal choice at the expense of Ellie’s trust, and *theoretically* her vital part in the salvation of humanity. Eventually we get to see how they handle the sorta shitshow sequel.
How long did this thing take to film? Ellie looked to have sprout 5 inches in height by the last episode! Instead of a kid, she looked like a young woman. I thought the game projects her as far less happy with the suspicion that she could have saved the world and that if her suspicion is true, Joel made the wrong choice. She may not want to die, but she may have been very ready to to so to save the world. Overall, I very much enjoyed this show.
Overall I'd give the show somewhere in 6-7/10 range, it just always feels a little off for me even during the best parts. I think my main issue with the show is that it never feels like it's all about Joel and Ellie, it isn't until Ep 4 that it's just Joel and Ellie. Then we get all this added stuff that is nice in theory and works well on it's own but it causes us to have even less time alone with Joel and Ellie together. Maybe it's due to the TLOU being a video game and thus all the gameplay is largely Joel and Ellie together and a show can't really do that. So perhaps just something that's inherently lost in translation. I was also disappointed in the general lack of action, not just infected random encounters to simulate the gameplay (which probably wouldn't be a good idea), but really good set-pieces the game had that the show doesn't attempt at all.
Yeah... that scene was like really bad, and I thought Bella was basically just saying the lines vs acting them in that scene too. I thought before they were laying it on really thick when Joel was in such good spirits talking about the future and stuff and then they go on and do that scene too. It felt like they already over-telegraphed it and now they were physically poking you about it. It reminds me of how The Departed super telegraphed everything from Infernal Affairs and took out a lot of tension. If you saw The Departed 1st, and then Infernal Affairs, I feel like you'd still be surprised here and there even knowing how it plays out, but seeing Infernal Affairs 1st, you're not surprised by anything.
Speaking of the game, but she was definitely wrong to trust the Fireflies. If a brain surgeon's first thought when briefly looking over an x-ray of a new patient is to skip patient permission and taking small samples in favor of full brain removal, he has less medical authority than a literal dog. No science in the world says a small sample via drilling the skull wouldn't have done just as much good, no matter what form the cure took.
I learned from Pirates of the Caribbean 2 to not to put too much thought into it as very often, the writers are not.
In this case, the Fireflies really did skip a ton and were doing things that in normal protocol, are unacceptable. Even forgiving that as the game takes place in a continuity that isn't too concerned with protocols, real science says they were messing up: the mold involved does not go into the brain at all. Even in ants, it is controlling their muscles from outside the brain.
But in it's own context, I think you are to believe it likely would have worked. Posible
Wonder why in the 2nd game she doesn't volunteer for the procedure after finding out the truth of what Joel did.
I don't think it is ever mentioned anywhere that Ellie's whole brain is to be ripped out. We're meant to assume that removing enough of the infection necessary to create a vaccine/cure would damage too much of the brain for her to not die or become a vegtable.
But arguing the viability of a vaccine/cure to a zombie fungus makes little sense - the cure is possible in this setting, because a zombie fungus is possible in this setting.
I liked the finale. Thought it was a concise, intimate version of what the game did, and here is one instance where it might’ve worked better. It’s hard to have pacing in the game’s final act because it’s also not the easiest to play. So you could die a bunch of times depending on difficulty level, and it’s just like *plot on hold*.
Also for that reason, it was maybe more impactful seeing Joel do what he does to save her, and good call on not hesitating even with the doctor. That trigger finger was nicely oiled here lol.
At its essence, it’s about the lie and whether or not his actions beforehand were justified. On a personal level, hell yes. These Fireflies are literal thugs who whisked Ellie away, carrying out their intentions on questionable scientific reasoning. On the other hand, Ellie would’ve taken the chance, even if she knew she would die in the process.
So anyways, Ellie forces herself to believe him (“Swear to me…”) but the seed of doubt has also been planted and will linger. Which is why it works well here in TV drama format. It’s really up to the viewer to decide, right along side the characters. The implications are set for next season, and I look forward to Pedro’s rendition of Future Days. Not so much to the 9 iron’ing though.
Oh, and that credits music is perfectly creepy. Got some Silent Hill vibes to it.
Also for that reason, it was maybe more impactful seeing Joel do what he does to save her, and good call on not hesitating even with the doctor. That trigger finger was nicely oiled here lol.
At its essence, it’s about the lie and whether or not his actions beforehand were justified. On a personal level, hell yes. These Fireflies are literal thugs who whisked Ellie away, carrying out their intentions on questionable scientific reasoning. On the other hand, Ellie would’ve taken the chance, even if she knew she would die in the process.
So anyways, Ellie forces herself to believe him (“Swear to me…”) but the seed of doubt has also been planted and will linger. Which is why it works well here in TV drama format. It’s really up to the viewer to decide, right along side the characters. The implications are set for next season, and I look forward to Pedro’s rendition of Future Days. Not so much to the 9 iron’ing though.
Oh, and that credits music is perfectly creepy. Got some Silent Hill vibes to it.
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The finale was fine. All the "correct" pieces were there, but I guess my feelings are a bit like I had with the Watchmen film. It was a technically well executed Adaptation, but something about it lacked the emotion punch of the games ending. Maybe it's because it's so expected? Like I knew beat for beat what was going to happened so there's no surprises. I imagine for viewers who didn't play the game it was certainly more impactful.
I don't want to overly criticize the actress playing Ellie, but her emotional tone in the last episode felt a little weak.
I think the moral argument was two-fold. I won't know until I replay the game, if that's exactly how it went down, but it seemed to me that the fireflies had no intention of giving them any choice in the matter so they were in essence hostages so it changes the dynamic a bit.
More I never quite felt like Joel and ellies relationship was that intense. Its like it was almost getting there towards the end. I sorta feel like we just didn't "feel" time passing for these characters. It was only 9 hours for us and of that 7 where they had much on screen time together. I think this feeling is due in part to the "player" having much more engagement than the "viewer". As the player, my enjoyment and feeling of successful rested on these twos relationship. Every little victory or heart in the affected me. As the viewer I can only make due with what I saw on screen and for me, it just didn't quite get there. The emotional connection for these two was at a volume lower than the game.
9/10 easy recommendation to anyone waiting, however. Thats just my closing thoughts.
If I were forced make a comparison, it just occurred to me that Station Eleven has very similar beats. Now that show, that one ripped my heart out of my chest. I think one difference is that Station Eleven is slightly longer in run time and takes place over 20 years, so you actually see these two characters grow together and it makes the big reveal a tad more gutwrenching. If you liked this I think you'd like Station Eleven.
I don't want to overly criticize the actress playing Ellie, but her emotional tone in the last episode felt a little weak.
I think the moral argument was two-fold. I won't know until I replay the game, if that's exactly how it went down, but it seemed to me that the fireflies had no intention of giving them any choice in the matter so they were in essence hostages so it changes the dynamic a bit.
More I never quite felt like Joel and ellies relationship was that intense. Its like it was almost getting there towards the end. I sorta feel like we just didn't "feel" time passing for these characters. It was only 9 hours for us and of that 7 where they had much on screen time together. I think this feeling is due in part to the "player" having much more engagement than the "viewer". As the player, my enjoyment and feeling of successful rested on these twos relationship. Every little victory or heart in the affected me. As the viewer I can only make due with what I saw on screen and for me, it just didn't quite get there. The emotional connection for these two was at a volume lower than the game.
9/10 easy recommendation to anyone waiting, however. Thats just my closing thoughts.
If I were forced make a comparison, it just occurred to me that Station Eleven has very similar beats. Now that show, that one ripped my heart out of my chest. I think one difference is that Station Eleven is slightly longer in run time and takes place over 20 years, so you actually see these two characters grow together and it makes the big reveal a tad more gutwrenching. If you liked this I think you'd like Station Eleven.
That's an odd show for me because I loved like all the past stuff but really did not care for the future stuff at all.
Saw my father watching Station Eleven a while back and it looked pretty bad to me. The traveling theater made no sense in the setting and the story was trying to talk about too many people in too many different places and times and it just stonewalled my ability to care. All the best parts were in the flashbacks while the future stuff couldn't suspend my disbelief.
The truth of the matter is that the game required sloppy and kinda lazy storytelling in that moment to get to that effective ending. Ellie's agency and awareness needs to be taking away for the time that she is at the hospital. Even the show only allows her just a tad bit more agency - going along with the tests at which point she's anesthetized. Let's say Joel was knocked out for 9 hours, this means that in this timeslot they had to do a full body scan of Ellie, find what caused her immunity, and plan on how to utilize it. That seems a bit brief for all that to take place. Also, it makes little sense that Marlene doesn't just kill Joel while he's unconcious. She knows he had a daughter once that he tragically lost, and that he spent the last year surviving with Ellie - If you think he'd respond with anything other than extreme hostility to the news that you'd plan to let this girl die on the operating table, you really must've been born yesterday. The game kinda gets away with this because of how well it had portrayed the growing relationship between Joel and Ellie, and by that point you're really supposed to be fuelled by your emotions and not think too much about the how and why, just that it's going to happen.
The show had the oppertunity to actually try and fix this. They could've had an entire episode dedicated to the Salt Lake Hospital (before Joel and Ellie show up) with Marlene as the main character, showing how the doctors there are working round the clock to try and crack this infection, with flashbacks to Marlene and Anna, and maybe even Marlene and Joel (who used to have some form of friendship with one another). Showing how long the Fireflies really have been trying to find a cure, how Ellie could then be the final missing piece, how close Marlene and Anna were, and how painful Marlene's future decision regarding Ellie would then be. And how ruthless Joel would end up being when he executes someone he once considered a friend.
The show could've also had Joel and Ellie be welcomed at the hospital by the Fireflies instead of it being a violent confrontation. This would've then set a false sense of safety in the viewer, and been an oppertunity to really allow some tension to build (something the game did with you moving through the tunnel of infected). This would also have made it so the Fireflies couldn't just shoot Joel when he's unaware since Ellie would be by his side.
Same: around 6.5 out of 10. I didn't play the video game but saw the movie version of the game (5 hours of cut scenes and some game play to glue them together), and TV show mostly follows the game. There are some things that the show does better, and others that the game does better, but problems with the plot, unnecessary content, etc., remain. They should have just based the show on the game and then modified it significantly to make it better, as the story in the game is only meant as a structure for which gameplay is more important.
Also, if they're going to do similar for the second season, then they shouldn't continue because the second part of the game is even more banal, like Walking Dead.
Also, if they're going to do similar for the second season, then they shouldn't continue because the second part of the game is even more banal, like Walking Dead.
Meh, the gameplay in TloU is a bog standard third person shooter and a mediocre stealth game slapped together. And the shooter part is deliberately handicpaped and made to feel cludgy to force you to scavenge for parts to upgrade the mechanics to what most would consider a baseline quality. Interspersed with a few of the most basic puzzles and on rails platforming imaginable, and a couple of bullet sponge tedium boss fights against generic hulks.
The story is nothing to write home about either, and its mostly driven by somewhat likable (or at least sympathetic) characters and impressive acting performances, but its definitely the focal point. (The second games woes are that one character is literally the unsympathetic villain, and Ellie and tommy flip flop so inconsistently around on their character points that no rapport can ever be established, so prettymuch dropping the games strengths)
I don't care for the game play; rather, it's a game, so the story only acts as a frame for the gameplay. In contrast, the story is the most important (together with characterization) in TV shows.
As depressing as Part 2 is storywise it is at least objectively better than Part 1 for gameplay. Dive into prone, prone shooting, Max Payne 3 style aiming when prone, more open-ended stealth, ditching the stupid ladder puzzles (aside from a tongue-in-cheek joke), actually having a jump even if it wasn’t very useful. Plus why are there so few action/adventure games where you’re able to just break the glass to get into a locked room.
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