‘The Last of Us’ Episode 1 review: There’s no shortage of thrills in this brilliant video game adaptation

Pedro Pascal and Nico Parker in a still from ‘The Last of Us’ Season 1 Episode 1 | Photo Credit: Disney+Hotstar

almost feature-length first episode last of us A real firecracker. Based on the 2013 video game created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, who also serve as writers on the show, last of us tells of a world ravaged by an invasive fungus that turns humanity into a hungry horde of the undead.

Beginning with a talk show in the ’60s where a fanatical eccentric scientist, Dr. Neuman (John Hannah), warns about a killer fungus, last of us Goes to 2003 where the television is murmuring silently about the events in Jakarta.

Sarah (Nico Parker) is a sweet, helpful 12-year-old girl who spends time with her neighbors the Adlers and gets her father Joel’s (Pedro Pascal) watch fixed for her birthday. As the day progresses, more signs of disquiet appear, including the clock repair shop closing early at 3 pm instead of its regular 7 pm time.

There are signs of uncontrollable fury among the infected and when Sara wakes up at 2 in the morning it seems that the world has gone mad. Joel, his brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), and Sarah plan to leave town but it seems they’ve all had the same idea and the roads are gridlocked.

A horrific tragedy later, the scene moves forward 20 years where Joel and Tess (Anna Torv) run a smuggling operation in the Boston quarantine zone. The Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA) runs the quarantine zone like a dictatorship with harsh punishments for any violations.

In his dealings with a low life, Joel comes across the leader of the resistance, Marlene (Merle Dandridge), who promises him the vehicle and supplies he needs, if only he will follow a woman named Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across America. Ready to ferry a teenager.

Mazin and Druckmann have followed the original story, changing and expanding it within the framework of the game. So the timeline has been shifted to the present, and the cordyceps fungus responsible for turning humanity into mindless cannibals sports not via airborne spores, but via all honest-to-god zombie-like bites. spreads out.

This is probably because, in sports, players spend a lot of time wearing masks in spore-infested spaces, which doesn’t make for very captivating television. However, there’s no shortage of thrills in this brilliant adaptation of the beloved video game.

Casting is on spot. Despite the role being offered to Mahershala Ali and Matthew McConaughey, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Pascal as himself once again. the mandalorian area, saving another innocent through a dangerous world. He personifies Joel’s grief and guilt as well as his ruthlessness and resourcefulness.

Ramsey, who stole our hearts catherine called birdie, Pascal is matched beat for beat as Ellie. The production design, while taking us into a devastated world, doesn’t offer anything too different from all the post-apocalyptic backgrounds we’ve seen before.