THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY (THE LAST OF US, SEASON ONE)
We've considered many times before the chequered history of video game adaptations on film and television.
But can HBO - a channel that has given us game changing, top quality drama like 'The Sopranos,' 'The Wire,' 'Game of Thrones,' 'Succession' and 'The White Lotus' - succeed where others have failed?
The answer is yes and spectacularly so.
'The Last of Us' is a nine episode show adapted for the small screen by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann from the hugely successful 2013 video game developed by Druckmann, Jacob Minkoff and Neil Straney for the Santa Monica based company Naughty Dog.
An apocalyptic action adventure, it challenged gamers to navigate cityscapes, forests and sewers while fending off zombie-like creatures infected by a fungus.
But they also had to dodge other humans trying to survive in a very dangerous world.
Built around the character of Joel who is tasked with protecting a teenage girl called Ellie, 'The Last of Us' received rave reviews from gamers and critics who praised its sophisticated story development as well as the demands it made on players.
With over 1.3 million copies initially sold, it became the biggest video game launch of all time and within three weeks rose to 3.4 million in sales - outgrossing by $3 million Zack Snyder's Superman movie 'Man of Steel' within 48 hours of their respective releases.
As we all know, money talks in Hollywood and inevitably two film adaptations were attempted - one by Sam Raimi with the 'Resident Evil' company Screen Gems and an animated short at Sony which wound up in development hell.
Informed by his experience of turning another Naughty Dog game 'Uncharted' into a movie, Druckmann fought hard for guarantees that key plot points in 'The Last Of Us' game would wind up in any TV or film adaptation.
After he was approached by PlayStation Productions about adapting one of its games for the screen, Craig Mazin, whose work on the HBO miniseries 'Chernobyl' earned considerable acclaim, was drawn to 'The Last of Us'.
Amazed that it had been considered as a movie, he argued it was more suited to a TV drama.
Introduced to Druckmann, they came up with a pitch to HBO.
Mazin's work on 'Chernobyl' persuaded the broadcaster to trust his instincts.
And how right they were.
Druckmann and Mazin's series casts Pedro Pascal as Joel, a hard of hearing middle aged Texan who has managed to survive the fungus inspired zombie apocalypse with his brother.
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Joel, though, has endured a lot of heartache along the way.
Handy with a gun and with a good nose for survival, he has suffered the loss of a 14 year old daughter, Nico Parker's Sarah who was tragically killed by a soldier as they fled the fungal outbreak.
Living in a quarantine zone in Boston 20 years later, he partners with Anna Torv's Tess, smuggling goods within the heavily militarised parts of the city.
His brother, Gabriel Luna's Tommy has fled to Wyoming and they have lost contact.
Desperate to link up with Tommy, Joel tries to negotiate the purchase of a car battery.
However he and Tess are scammed, realising it has been sold to rebels opposed to the military known as The Fireflies.
Their leader, Merle Dandridge's Marlene cuts a deal with Tess and Joel offering them a working truck if they take Bella Ramsay's sassy teenager Ellie for her to the Massachusetts State House.
After making a perilous trek through the infected zone, things quickly go wrong when they arrive at their destination.
The building is infested and Tess, who has been fiercely protective of Ellie, is infected, sacrificing herself to guarantee Joel and the teenager's safety.
Joel and Ellie subsequently embark on an epic trek through America that will take them through Missouri to Kansas City to Jackson, Wyoming to Colorado and to Utah where they will eventually come across Marlene again.
Along the way, the duo stumble upon other survivors - some friendly, some hostile - and they have some really close shaves with the cannibalistic creatures and equally scary human beings they encounter.
The initial iciness between Joel and Ellie melts.
But will their bond be enough to help them survive?
Working from their own scripts and with a team of directors consisting of themselves, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Jasmila Zbanic, Lisa Johnson and Ali Abbassi, Mazin and Druckmann pull off a rich tale of survival and yearning for meaningful human connection in the most desperate of circumstances.
Episodes hop back and forth through time - filling in the back story of Ellie or some of the sideline characters.
One episode concentrates on the touching story of a friend of Joel's, Nick Offerman's misanthropic recluse Bill who finds love with Murray Bartlett's fellow survivor Frank.
Another episode reveals how Ellie has suffered heartache too, with a good friend, Storm Reid's Riley joining the Fireflies.
We also learn what happened to Tommy.
Other characters like Melanie Lynskey's Kansas City rebel leader Kathleen Coghlan, Lamar Johnson's Henry Burrell, Keivvon Montreal Woodward's eight year old Sam, Graham Greene's Native American Marlon, Rutina Wesley's Jackson settlement leader Maria and Scott Shepherd's preacher David add further colour to the show.
This enables Mazin and Druckmann to explore human behaviour and the depths some people will plumb when they are under threat.
At the core of the show, though, is the relationship between Joel and Ellie.
Pascal and Ramsay's onscreen partnership is electric.
The bond they quickly establish pays huge emotional dividends as the series progresses.
As Joel, Pascal turns in his best performance to date on the big or small screen - brilliantly utilising his Burt Reynold physicality and his Harrison Ford charisma.
For much of the run, he cuts a haunted figure but gradually develops into a kind of surrogate father.
Ramsay turns in a really intelligent performance as a smart kid who is quick with a quip but nurses very deep emotional scars.
Offerman and Bartlett have deservedly earned plaudits for a superbly acted and wonderfully executed third episode.
Torv also impresses in the opening episodes as Joel's tough as nails companion Tess.
Luna and Wesley are everything you hope they will be in the Wyoming episode.
Lynskey and Shepherd turn in sophisticated performances, proudly embracing their hearts of darkness.
Amid all the gloom and unbearable tension, Reid, Johnson, Woodward and Greene inject moments of humour, compassion and humanity.
For 'The Last of Us' to work, it must also technically be on song.
Fortunately, there's nothing to worry on that front.
Everything from Ksenia Sereda, Eben Bolter, Christine A Maier and Nadim Carlsen's cinematography to John Paino's art direction, Paul Healy's set decoration to Faaria Monk's prosthetics along with the work of 97 other make-up artists hits it's mark.
Cynthia Ann Summers' costume design and Guy Bewes' stunt coordination are perfect.
Crucially, the work of the 11 strong special effects team and the 539 visual effects workers is spectacular, conjuring up some of the most memorable action sequences on a big or small screen for many a year.
Two sequences stand out in particular.
There's an epic battle sequence in Kansas City which is almost 'Game of Thrones' like in its scale and execution.
An episode where Ellie and Riley hang out and then fall out in a looted Boston mall is impressively handled too.
Having recently spent the guts of two years living in fear of a coronavirus and hunkering down in our homes, it's easy to see why 'The Last of Us' has resonated.
And in the era of Putin, Trump and militias like the Proud Boys, viewers will also be struck by the show's warnings about populist demagogues and the paranoia and fear that they exploit.
The levels of mistrust between civilian characters and the military mirror the deep rooted cynicism that exists in some sections of society in the post pandemic world.
Mazin and Druckmann's big achievement is finding light in an otherwise dark world.
And it is those moments that keep viewers invested.
With strong viewing figures and rave reviews from audiences and critics, a second season is ready to roll.
Hopefully Mazin and Druckmann will not relinquish the reins too much in the writing of the series because 'The Last of Us' really benefits from their passion for the concept behind the original game and for its characters.
'The Last of Us' is a stunning achievement.
Expectations of another season will be really high but if Mazin and Druckmann can keep the show as grounded as the first, HBO might just have another classic on its hands.
('The Last of Us' was broadcast on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland on January 16-March 13, 2023)
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