The Last of Us sets new Rotten Tomatoes score record

Published 08:48 16 Jan 2023 GMT

Charlie Herbert

The Last of Us sets new Rotten Tomatoes score record

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Impressively, it seems like The Last of Us has lived up to the hype

The Last of Us has set a new record with its Rotten Tomatoes score. The live-action adaptation of the critically-acclaimed 2013 video game of the same name premiered on HBO Max on Sunday night. Set two decades after a mutant fungal outbreak completely decimates human civilisation, which also turned anyone infected into a cannibalistic creature, we are introduced to Joel (Pedro Pascal), a violent smuggler who has been tasked with getting teenage girl Ellie (Bella Ramsey) safely to a medical centre on the other side of the country. It turns out that Ellie has been bitten by one of the creatures, but she has remained immune to the infection, so the key to creating a cure may be found in her blood. The show is one of the most faithful video game adaptations, and will thrill both those who have played the game and those who haven't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUke5mdoac0 It's been one of the most-eagerly anticipated shows of recent years. The anticipation was so great for the premiere that HBO Max appeared to crash for some users as so many tried to watch. Critic reviews before the premiere were full of praise for the series, including here at JOE. Our own Rory Cashin labelled The Last of Us "a savage, beautiful, terrifying, heartbreaking masterpiece", with a "jaw-dropping" sense of scale and an "immaculate" cast. Thanks to the positive reviews, the series currently has an incredible score of 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. This means The Last of Us has made its own piece of history, by achieving the highest ever score for a live-action video game adaption on the review aggregator platform. Although its score could obviously drop as more episodes are released, the series is well clear of the second best scored live-action video game adaptation.

This title belongs to Netflix's The Witcher which has a score of 81 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, though its second season's 95 percent does boost up its overall score. The Last of Us has bucked the usual trend for live-action video game adaptations, with many failing to translate success on consoles into success in television and film. For example, the Assassin's Creed film achieved a score of just 19 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, while the big screen adaptation of Need for Speed only fared slightly better with 22 percent. And the less said about the 1993 Super Mario Bros film, the better.

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