When the original of the creator Neil Drakman "The Last of Us" arrived in the current recognition in 2013, it was good luck to do so Just Because the video games were scratching and raising their way to be considered "respectable" or even "cinema" art. Almost exactly a decade later, The exciting first season of HBO series adaptation avoided the need to resolve that pressing issue. Instead, he faced a completely different challenge. Until that point, even the oldest prestige on the cable networks were undermined by streaming and technological fog services, all were ready and ready to burn hundreds of millions of dollars on any IP. It was fair to wonder: Did he remain something about the live version of this post-apocalyptic adventure to prove it first?

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Season 1 would answer this in confirmation, mainly by Picking up the so -called Daming video gamesBut the real test comes with the announcement of this new season. Based on "The last of us Part II", a sequel usually greets like nothing less than a masterpiece In the gamer circles, Season 2 always came with extra pressure to strike a lightning strike twice. Just ask Drakmann himself and co-writer Haley Gross, and both had a monumental task to make another satisfying bow to expect for the main protagonists Eli and Elloel, after doing so flawlessly for the first time. While their sequel from 2020 has achieved everything that is needed and more (though let me free my hot download at the beginning and say that the first match is far superior a lot Different requirements on television.

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And relief and real pleasure is to say that the sophomorial season of "The Last of Us" clears that incredibly high strip - and sets a new standard for every adaptation of video games that will follow in the wake. Yes, it should probably be said that these seven episodes (all were available to critics to consider) faithfully raise the entire sequences that fans would recognize from the original material, often beat them for rhythm and a word. However, there has never been very inherent art only in replication or repetition. It is in the laborious process of actually AdaptationHowever, that season 2 really rises. Following the wide shot of the game is just as clear as it gets, but making various changes to further enrich the already competent narrative? This is what puts this on another level together.

As a result, it is not a hyperbola to say that the "last of us" season 2 comes quite a lot to feel like a miracle. Thanks to the rare combination of ambition, creativity and willingness to take risks, shows Craig Mazin and Drakman do much more than simply re -read the old terrain. They eventually deliver a darker, more complex story that (mostly) improves what happened before.

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After receiving a few short (but shocking) details of the tables out of the way, Season 2 was selected five years after ELOEL (Pedro Pascal) and Eli (Bella Ramsey) survived their disturbing journey through the villages found in infection. However, even as we see the two characters on a totally new territory, after integrating into the Acksecson community, Wyoming, which can be a snowy oasis in the middle of a dystopian desert, cracks beneath the surface are already obvious. For reasons only hinted in early walking, Elloel and Eli's narrow-cluttered attitude has become tight in the years. The former now resorts to therapy sessions with the unlikeliest of individuals (a World-Weary Catherine O'Hara as Original Character Gail), While the Latter Spurns Her Father Figure Her Best Friend Dina (Isabel Merced, A Top Contender for the Best Scene-Stealing Performance of the Season) and Intense Training Regimens with Jackson's Steady Leader-in-Waiting Jesse (A Perfectly-CAST YOUNG MAZINO). All the time, a new threat descends on our heroes far more frightening than any undead contagious: Caitlin Dever as Abi, who takes the whole scene to show why complaints about her casting They were always deeply wrong.

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If there is something that separates every iteration of the "last of us" from its contemporaries, it will have to be the ability of the narrative to take a relatively silly setting (oh no, mold-zombies cause the end of the world!) And to take it all into something important and real. That tangible sense partially derives from the continued focus of Season 2 on putting every percentage of its massive budget on the screen, from the real recording of the location in conditions of magnificent landscapes to placing a legitimate "Game of Thrones", with pieces, with impeccable effects. No, how this lives or dies of its ensemble, and every aspect of production seems to be aimed at giving them time and space to shine. Although this time a lot of frostier, the dynamics of Pascal and Ramsey remains the heart and soul of the whole story. The two co-leaders get very glossy scenes by stopping the show ... But these are the moments of the sidelines that will remain the most, those who allow them to grow half a hundred complex emotions into something as subtle as an exchange of appearance or expression of one's changing as soon as the back of the other.

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With the added dimension of the deliberate Merced, Dinah and Dervers as wild cards (along with one or two other big names that I do not dare), "the last of us" rarely feels so frightening and so lively. This has always been a human drama and a powerful story about morality, above all, even above his unwanted scientific/horror traps. Not surprisingly, the whole team rises once again.

As it turns out, the problem that plagues countless films for video games and shows in recent years has had a deceptive easy solution: keep what is already working and changing what it doesn't. Obviously as it sounds, there is a reason why this was so illusive for so long. It tends to have a shutdown between multiple layers of production. You have studio directors who fundamentally misunderstand why a particular game has become so popular to start, wearing creative waters deeply adapted to that material. "The Last of Us" skillfully avoids both traps, probably as a result of the original creator of the game Drakmann and an expert on the genre Mazin (whose Chernobyl work feels like a strange conscientious launch for this), joining a friendly film network like HBO.

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All the parties involved could easily insist on anything more than a live remake of "Part II", but that may not be less concern here. While Season 1 was default a little Too often at the 1: 1 recreation in the first game, the true strength of the show comes from the intersection where it differed significantly and falsified its way completely. The same is true in Season 2, though with an added bonus and small and major changes always rooted in justified decisions. (Yes, expect More expansive inclusions similar to - though they do not replicate - the famous Bill episode and Frank of Season 1 of Season 1.)

This is precisely the approach that makes the second season of "The Last of Us" such a joy to watch, even for newcomers simply together for driving ... Despite its almost relentless theme. Who knew that the saga was affected by loss, trauma and endless cycles of violence, could still be so fun? Just like the games, one view of the frightening twists and twists of the season 2 will probably be enough for the most. But be sure, this is a show that sticks to the review of re -viewing. The scenes that play in a way for the first time to take the fresh layers and the new meaning for the second time-a trademark of well-written scripts that were carefully considered from every possible angle. The not-second sauce is a creative Team working in perfect sync under one unified Vision, from episode Director (Including "Game of Thrones" Veteran Mark Mylod, "Loki" Season 1 Alum Kate Herron, "Loki" Season 1 Alum Kate Herron Peter Hoar, Stephen Williams, and Nina Lopez-Corrado in Addition to Druckmann and Mazin) to the scripts (Credited largely to Mazin, along with druckmann and hally gross) to the sub-line of departments and crews.

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The series can never completely escape the foolish attraction of those side by side, certain to become viral on social media in the coming weeks, but do not make a mistake: this is just the latest example of storytellers who understand that video games and their adaptations can be something more. Several times the season stumbles when it looks like the game at the most basic level - not unlike the emotional distance of looking at someone else to play through "Part II" on YouTube. However, at best, it proves why this game is worth adjusting to another medium in the first place. So how are you getting better on what happened before? By doing the "last of us" season 2.

/Movie rating: 8.5 out of 10

"Last of Us" Season 2 Prime Ministers of HBO on April 13, 2025.