Listen here, while reading
If somebody were about to ask me what was the best new movie I saw this summer, I wouldn’t know what to answer.
In the beginning of June, I couldn’t wait to be swept off my feet by the all new, reinvented in the Snyder/Nolan way ‘Man of Steel’ .
Consequently I was completely unaware, unsuspected and
unprepared for the hard landing.
Having in
mind Steven Soderbergh’s passionate speech about the State of Cinema and
the mechanisms that get movies made today, this new alien with the S, seemed to
be less of the legitimate heir of his brilliant
creators and more of the pampered child of the Hollywood studio lawyers/ accountants/executives.
After
establishing that Man of Steel was not to be my … Krypton Knight, I turned to
my new hope, the ‘District 9’ director Neill Blomkamp and his new film
Elysium.
Fortunately
there was no hard landing there, neither
novelty, nor surprise.
All the
things I was looking for in a movie this blockbuster summer were about to come
from the most unexpected place: The video game industry.
Being a fan
of the ‘Uncharted’ series, ‘Naughty Dog’
and the Zombie Saga I knew I had to have
a good look at this next generation video game. It was entitled ‘The Last of Us’
and I couldn’t help but notice that Ellen Page was casted as Ellie, one of the
two protagonists.
(As I found out later Ellie’s resemblance to Ellen was …coincidental. Ellie’s overall similarity to Ellen’s characteristic voice, figure and acting were also symptomatic…)
(As I found out later Ellie’s resemblance to Ellen was …coincidental. Ellie’s overall similarity to Ellen’s characteristic voice, figure and acting were also symptomatic…)
Having had no
high hopes nor excessive amount of enthusiasm, I was reluctantly
immersed in its post-apocalyptic world.
Minutes
later, it was already too late for me to go back to real life. I had to kiss normality goodbye.
This game had me at loading… loading… loading mode.
This game had me at loading… loading… loading mode.
The story in
a nutshell:
It has been 20 years after the outbreak of a pandemic which destroyed civilization and life as we know it and turned most of the United States population into man-eating zombie-like monsters.
Joel is a survivor who lives in Boston. He and his friend Tess get by by smuggling and trading goods. When they come across the leader of a rebel group, the 'Fireflies', they undertake the task to smuggle a teenage girl, Ellie, outside the quarantine zone.
Joel and Tess soon realize how unique and important Ellie is, since she has developed an immunity to the infection that could lead to a cure. Joel and Ellie wander about the ravaged and dangerous American cities and countryside, struggling to stay alive so that they can continue their journey to the Fireflies headquarters and give hope to the world.
All the fundamental elements that we usually find in great filmmaking are here: Great photography, amazing art direction and sound editing, impressing acting, yes acting and above all well developed characters and good old fashioned solid plot and storytelling.
It has been 20 years after the outbreak of a pandemic which destroyed civilization and life as we know it and turned most of the United States population into man-eating zombie-like monsters.
Joel is a survivor who lives in Boston. He and his friend Tess get by by smuggling and trading goods. When they come across the leader of a rebel group, the 'Fireflies', they undertake the task to smuggle a teenage girl, Ellie, outside the quarantine zone.
Joel and Tess soon realize how unique and important Ellie is, since she has developed an immunity to the infection that could lead to a cure. Joel and Ellie wander about the ravaged and dangerous American cities and countryside, struggling to stay alive so that they can continue their journey to the Fireflies headquarters and give hope to the world.
All the fundamental elements that we usually find in great filmmaking are here: Great photography, amazing art direction and sound editing, impressing acting, yes acting and above all well developed characters and good old fashioned solid plot and storytelling.
The motion capture performances by actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson breathe life into Joel and Ellie. It is the first time we see believable facial expressions and are easily moved by the characters’ suffering and hardship even during intense game playing. This makes it difficult not to constantly worrying about the heroes, especially during the fighting sequences.
As the game
unfolds, so does the relationship
between the two protagonists.
It is on this relationship that the story invests and it pays off amazingly until the very end.
It is on this relationship that the story invests and it pays off amazingly until the very end.
The game
playing uses a third-person perspective with gun fighting, combat and cover techniques. There is a
variety of weapons picked by the characters: blade, rifle, shotgun, a bow (very
useful when in stealth mode), flame thrower (!), assault rifle pistol,
revolver, scoped revolver-like handgun called the "El Diablo", and a
sawed-off one handed shotgun called the "Shorty".
There are also many
different weapons that can be scavenged from the environment like metal pipes,
planks, baseball bats, machetes, and hatchets. Items like empty bottles and
bricks can be picked up and thrown to distract or stun enemies.
The game also
features a crafting system. By going into the backpack, the player can use
recipes introduced throughout the game to forge useful supplies like Molotov
cocktails, or find a workbench and upgrade arms, or collect items that can
improve the player’s physical
abilities.
Strategy techniques are essential, especially when outnumbered (that is just about always) so you have to make every bullet count and use supplies with caution.
Strategy techniques are essential, especially when outnumbered (that is just about always) so you have to make every bullet count and use supplies with caution.
In many cases I was faced with the dilemma: make a
Molotov cocktail or craft a medicine kit?
During non-fighting transitional periods the
player can explore the environment, while engaging in conversations
between the characters, where they discuss their current or past situation, the surrounding environment, their
objectives or make jokes, and well … bond.
The music score of ‘The Last of Us’ is quite an
accomplishment. Composed by the two-time Academy Award for best original score
winner Gustavo Santaolalla (‘Brokeback Mountain’, ‘Babel’, ‘The Motorcycle
Diaries’), the main theme is mainly acoustic guitar played by Santaolalla himself, in a way that gives the story room to breathe.
And it is compelling.
The game creators’ understanding of human nature is well substantiated, profound
and realistic. Throughout the history of human suffering and Man's need to
protect himself when faced with the threat of a great disaster or extinction Man
had to make life turning decisions like
becoming sort of a … serial killer.
Ellie: “This
is our routine; day and night all we do
is survive”
Questions
like: “Could you tell a friend from foe,
could you kill, could you do worse ? “ , are easily answered when the inbuilt
instincts for survival and self preservation take over.
When Joel is
asked if he fears the infested, he states: “They are predictable, normal people
scare me”. The normal people are the real foes the survival antagonists and the true
monsters.
After all Man is the
most ferocious beast of all.
So here it
is: The Last of Us is a next generation
video game, a PS3 exclusive, a great thriller with
multi layered storytelling, a
digital masterpiece, an experience, an interactive movie and hopefully a future feature film probably not starring Ellen Page.
You can find the Greek version of my review right HERE
The official trailer for 'The Last of Us II' is here at last!
Killing Eve : The new era of TV is female
