The moment we’ve been waiting for is finally here. HBO’s The Last of Us is premiering in just a few days, so as would be the case, the reviews are also starting to pour in. Overall, first impressions seem to indicate a positive critical reception, but don’t necessarily expect the masterpiece that was the 2013 video game.
Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel Miller and Ellie Williams, the live-action adaptation is developed by Chernobyl executive producer Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog’s own Neil Druckmann. The story roughly treads the same path as the video game narrative. While the producers have assured fans that they undertook this task with a great sense of reverence and faithfulness to the source material, the show will take certain liberties with the plot.
As of this moment, The Last of Us retains a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews, and a 100 percent certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with 29 reviews.
Empire magazine gave the series a perfect score and called it “the best adaptation of a video game ever made” which is admittedly not a high bar, but the firmness brooks no arguments. Meanwhile, Collider echoed those sentiments, giving The Last of Us an “A+” and even going so far as to suggest the show improves the story by making it “richer and more impactful.”
Entertainment Weekly and Vanity Fair were more critical, with the latter noting that the premiere arrives in a medium “already so saturated with comparable material” which means that it doesn’t “feel like a revolution of any kind.”
All in all, The Last of Us appears to be a decently made show with a well fleshed-out narrative that emphasizes on the emotional potency of the game. Just how much you’ll end up enjoying this 10-hour ride in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the United States is something that you alone can decide as the show starts airing on HBO platforms from next week.