The Last of Us heralded the end of the seventh-generation of consoles in an incredible way, with Naughty Dog delivering a tale interwoven with incredible performances from Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, among others, as well as a nuanced narrative made great by its analysis of human morality. It is Johnson's role as Ellie that's the standout performance, however. Not only does the actress ground the suitably post-apocalyptic setting of the title, she bears the emotional core of it as well. Baker's turn as Joel is equally as enthralling, but Ellie as a character is just outstanding, with Left Behind only furthering the emotional gravitas evoked by the game's main narrative. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv4losIoaPw Whilst I may not be looking forward to the prospect of a sequel to Naughty Dog's magnum-opus in the slightest, it really is difficult to find yourself not looking forward to seeing more of Johnson and Baker's talents.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
