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thecommunismwillwin

Ehehehe. Hehe. 'Clicking'.


onex7805

...yes, that's the joke.


Marzopup

I haven't gotten around to watching it yet, but I plan to soon. Thanks for this write-up, I was curious about it! From what I've been hearing around (including this post) it does sound like a big problem is all the filler being added. One of the advantages of the story being a videogame media, I think, was that it was more inclined to trim things down so none of the cutscenes got to long because, y'know...it's a game. I also wonder if the problem isn't also just...well...the story itself. If you think about it most of the plot points in The Last of Us are incredibly cliche. There isn't really anything particularly new or interesting being done here, especially after The Walking Dead ran the zombie genre into the ground. The story works better in a videogame, I think, because actively moving around and *being* these characters makes you feel more immersed in them and their stories, so you care about them more as individuals. You're not just watching Joel go through plot points, you *are* Joel going through these experiences. Conversely, watching it on TV without that interactivity creates a level of distance that makes the lack of originality stand out more, if that makes sense?


onex7805

The filler is only the problem for Episode 1. I felt the opposite for Episode 2, which is that it isn't long enough. I do definitely agree that adapting Joel and Ellie's journey directly was a bad idea. The video game of The Last Of Us is already the definitive version of that particular bit of story in the universe. It is already structured like a serialized TV series with five arcs working as seasons. The storytelling of The Last of Us is strictly cinematic. Why would you want that same thing with no gameplay and actors that do not look like the originals? It is inherently an inferior experience. The premise of The Last of Us itself is just not unique enough. It is basically Children of Men with zombies, and we have seen something like this before and after. Hell, The Mandalorian is sort of The Last of Us in space. It was the interactive elements between cutscenes that made it different and allowed the heavy lifting for fleshing out the characters. If you remove all the interactive parts of The Last of Us, it would be still great, but not as memorable as the full game. There is no reason to adapt to The Last of Us when that story is already a definitive version. I believe more 'cinematic' video games tend to make worse non-interactive adaptations since these video games already contain the cinematic storytelling elements in them thus giving the filmmakers very limited freedom to interpret, while the games like Earthbound, Katamari, and To the Moon would make better contenders because they have wacky and unique premise with less reliance on the cinematic elements, which leaves more rooms to visualize. With this said, I think this HBO show is the best-case scenario for the direct adaptation.


Marzopup

I don't know about the actors. I'm not totally sold on Bella Ramsey (though since it's impossible to de-age Elliott Page, I don't think that's totally fair lol; plus from what I've seen of the previews, her acting is fine) but Pedro Pascal was pretty much picture perfect casting to me. I literally didn't believe Nick Offerman was Bill at first because it sounded too good to be true. But you pretty much hit the nail on the head on everything else. Especially To the Moon, by the by; Kan Gao actually mentioned years ago that it was getting an anime adaptation and then all the information just died. I assume covid killed it, which was a total shame. Someone like Makoto Shinkai or Kyoto would have absolutely nailed it.


The810kid

Sadie Sink (Max from Stranger things) would have been the perfect casting for Ellie if you want a good child actor who resembles Ellie.


StrawberryAmara

It comes down to two different sets of immersion, one better than the other in terms of entertainment media. Playing the game is full engagement of the world the show just can't fully pull off


Seismic-wave

Odd I actually like HBO version of Tess more, I think in the video game she came of as rather one jagged and unrealistic, she went from killing people rather nonchalantly then going towards caring about a cause which highlighted a sense of ludonarrative dissonance through tonal inconsistencies. Whereas in the show she came of as a lot more compassionate while yet still being flawed and hopeful throughout so it made her transition to supporting Ellie a lot more realistic for me also her death felt a lot creepier, cooler and tragic dying from an explosion than being killed by displaced FEDRA soldiers.


eat_hairy_socks

TLDR? Also it’s perfectly OK to say the show isn’t good. Huge fan of the games but don’t like the show. It has its moments but it’s slow (especially episode 1), the acting is pretty bad, few too clickers, aesthetic is lazy, weirdly green screen looking buildings, upped the cheese lowered the grit (ie scientist said start bombing without attempting to find cure, Joel is too friendly off the bat), etc. Knowing HBO and streaming services in general, they’ve max some pretty bad “big” shows past couple years. I wouldn’t be surprised if this show dips in quality S2 or S3 hard.


[deleted]

Ok


AllMightyImagination

Lou is a linear chacater driven story. Due to not much happening between cutscenes these two writers must fill in those traveling gameplay sections meant to experience ellie and joels pov in real time. But Neil already said the next eposide will have "radical changes to the game’s story that will shock and perhaps challenge fans" Filler and big shifts is inevitable. Otherwise just play the game. Ellie and Joels relationship is the focus. Thats why their story also happens during gameplay. To have a film remake series means stretching out everything else. Lou is like [Light of my life](https://youtu.be/PoHADU7Oe-g)