Broadcast from this Monday on Prime Video, the series adapted from the famous video game is the event of this beginning of the year in the world of series.
This is the event of this beginning of the year. Series The Last of Uspost-apocalyptic adventure thriller adapted from the famous video game by Neil Druckmann, is broadcast from this Monday on Prime Video.
With rave reviews and a score of 97% on the review aggregator “Rotten Tomatoes”, the series is on track to sign the first success of the year on streaming platforms, ten years after the release of the video game. on PlayStation.
Adapted by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin (Chernobyl), the story is faithful to the original game and follows the duo formed by Joel, a trafficker broken by tragedy, and Ellie, the teenager he must protect, the last hope of a world almost destroyed by a virus, where the zombies.
An issue for HBO
For HBO, which broadcasts the series in the United States on its HBO Max platform, and has just announced a price increase (from 14.99 to 15.99 dollars for the monthly subscription without advertising), the challenge is to cut.
In a context where the viewer no longer knows where to turn with so many new series coming out every week, the platform “clearly remains the benchmark for original series, but its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is at the crossroads of ways in terms of how much money it’s willing to spend on projects,” TV REV analyst John Cassillo told AFP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lBjBwUF2gY
As streaming services multiply, channels are spending more and more money to produce blockbuster series (The Rings of Power on Prime Video, Foundation on Apple TV+). With The Last of UsHBO tries to secure another worldwide success after Game Of Thrones/House of the Dragon. His previous attempt, with Westworldwas a relative failure.
The adaptation of an innovative video game
Considered one of the masterpieces of contemporary video games, The Last of Us is a bestseller that has sold more than 37 million copies – combined for the two games, released in 2013 and 2020 respectively.
As indicated The world, The Last of Us made an impression by taking the clichés of zombie games like resident Evil to focus on the emotions of the characters. Many players also praised the rigor of its staging and the performance of the actors. Many were moved to tears by their acting.
The Last of Us was also praised for the complexity of its screenplay and its ambivalent characters. The game takes care to highlight characters from diversity or the LGBTQIA community (the heroine is thus a lesbian).
In an interview at New York TimesNeil Druckmann explains that for the series adaptation “the most important thing was to keep the soul” of the game, not necessarily entire sequences.
“What makes the show are the characters, and their philosophical questions such as ‘do the ends justify the means’ or ‘how big is the tribe you have to take care of’.”
The creator of “Chernobyl”
The series was imagined by Craig Mazin, the creator of Chernobylthe mini-series on the 1986 nuclear disaster. A program that caused a sensation in 2019 and had fascinated the world. Chernobyl was even ahead breaking Bad and Game Of Thrones in the ranking of the most popular series of the site IMDb.
Craig Mazin’s new creation logically intrigues series fans. The screenwriter had dreamed for years of adapting the game after failed attempts at the cinema. “Having the chance to adapt this incredible work of art has been my dream for years, and I’m honored to work with Neil,” Craig Mazin said in a statement.
He entrusted the production of the first episode to the young Russian director Kantemir Balagov, 31, whose first two films, Tesnota, a cramped life (2017) and A tall girl (2019), were awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. Neil Druckmann also participated in the writing of the series.
A shocking duo
The casting, considered very faithful to the game, was praised by fans and critics. The popular Pedro Pascal, noted for his role as a shock policeman in the series Narcosbut also for his services in Game Of Thrones and The Mandalorian, embodies the hero, Joel. Bella Ramsey, also seen in Game Of Thronesis Ellie.
This choice was particularly praised by the press and in particular by RollingStone. “We have only one desire: to watch them. They are immediately endearing”, writes the magazine. For the review of TimeBella Ramsey is “the greatest asset of the series”.
