NixSar

I was honestly surprised how bad the film is after revisiting it 30 years later. Robert De Niro is Robert De Niro, meaning he is always the same and keeps the same tone of voice and facial expression for nearly three hours. Al Pacino is having his psychotic Nicolas Cage moment that is funny, but somehow doesn't fit in the film.

Female characters are all so forgettable and unbelievable, perhaps the worst part of the film. Supposedly prime motivators and movers, they are really just plot holes filled hastily and poorly, the worst being De Niro's woman. Utter trash. Also, the main characters' professional respect and 'camaraderie' is a seriously unbelievable joke. Even if you could conceive of it, it is not developed well. They just meet all of a sudden, for no reason, and immediately bond for no reason whatsoever.

Pacing is uneven, the story plods on then goes into hyperdrive. Characters appear whenever they are needed regardless of logic - the ending being the worst in that respect. Al Pacino appearing in a helicopter after 'going to sleep for a month' and reaching De Niro in the hotel in two minutes, then following him to the airport despite not seeing him, alone, although an army of police responded. Anyway, half of the film is like that.

To boot, it lasts an hour too long, at least. Really, surprisingly bad for a crime classic.

The Last of Us season 1 made for really good TV - excellent and fully fleshed out main characters that are not at all your average good guys, but are nuanced and realistic, equal parts survivalist Machiavellian bastards and thoughtful, emotional human beings trying to get the best out of an impossible situation.

The show follows the game pretty closely and unfortunately, this is why it fell apart in season 2. Getting rid of a main character just because it happened in the game, albeit for different motives, was a terrible idea. See, in games, ultimately the player is always the main character and you can get around any NPCs dying, however important. In a TV show this just doesn't work. You need to have an equally compelling character to make it interesting, to keep the drama, tensions, and meaningful arcs. Unfortunately, the teen lesbian drama that replaces season 1 content will be uninteresting to a lot of people, me included. I cannot drum up interest in a character that is basically a carbon copy of Ellie, down to her stature, that was given way too little time to develop.

Not to drone on forever, on top of all that blandness, we have ridiculously tiny women performing outrageous physical feats that just additionally ruins immersion. There were plenty of ways all of this could have been avoided with minimal deviations but maximum effect.

I will soldier on and finish it, but I am not enjoying it anymore. Also, if it's of any consequence for interpreting this review... I've really liked both games.

Season 2 of The Last of Us got off to a disastrous start, with a noticeable lack of original material that sent the show plummeting downhill from the get-go. The dialogue feels forced and cringeworthy, and despite high production values, the overall aesthetic comes across as cheap and unconvincing. The cast seems miscast, with performances that feel like they're phoning it in. It's as if the actors were having a casual conversation in a Portland neighborhood and were suddenly told, "Enter the shot and do something." The decision to get rid of a main character also feels like a misstep (I know it's from the game, but the game, first of all, gives a different motivation to Abby, and, secondly, you are the main character in the game and it easily works without anyone else), especially given the lack of compelling replacements. Overall, Season 2 feels like a total mess.