***NOTE: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE LAST OF US AND LOGAN SO IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME OR WATCHED THE MOVIE THEN AVERT YOUR EYES***
So last week, I got to see the piece of art that is the conclusion to Hugh Jackman's reign as the Wolverine. As someone who has watched the old X-Men movies with my dad, seeing this made me quite emotional. Marvel movies have always been a huge part of my relationship with my dad, so of course I was practically racing to the movie theater the moment I could to see Logan. Watching it, of course I was watching it as a fan of the X-Men Universe, but I also began to watch it as someone who is a HUGE fan of the award winning game The Last of Us. On top of Marvel movies, video games was also a huge part of my childhood and my relationship with my dad. The Last of Us is an amazing game that proves that video games are a new form of story telling with the technology that we have.
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For those who have seen Logan and played The Last of Us, you may know what I am talking about. Ever since they announced that The Last of Us was supposed to be getting a movie adaptation, people began to point out that Hugh Jackman would make the PERFECT Joel. Of course, nothing is confirmed, and the movie itself has been on standby for the past year and a half (which is upsetting, but at the same time, movie adaptations of video games have never gone well in the past, so they might be saving us here.) Even some of the scenery in Logan was very similar to The Last of Us. This being said, I knew the moment that I started making connections between the movie and the game I knew that I had to make a list of comparisons! So, here are the comparisons I was able to make between Logan and The Last of Us; everything from visuals to plot.
1. The relationship between Logan and Laura is similar to the relationship between Joel and Ellie
For now, we are going to put aside the fact that the characters look VERY similar. Instead, we are going to talk about the relationship that Logan and Joel have with Ellie and Laura, and how these two relationships change over the course of their timelines. Looking at The Last of Us first; Joel and Ellie are stuck together due to the world around them pushing them closer together rather than pulling them apart. Although Ellie is not really Joel's daughter, Joel begins to look over her like she is his daughter. Their relationship starts off rocky, but by the end of the game, Ellie and Joel are living together through the apocalypse. Laura and Logan grow together through a rocky relationship, but of course there are no zombies, but their world still pushes them closer together (there is also the difference that Laura is actually Logan's daughter, but I don't know if that really matters whenever you look at how close the two people grow in both the movie and the game)
2. The environment in the movie and the game are VERY similar in some scenes
Since the movie is still relatively new, it is difficult to find actual pictures of the movie that aren't from the original trailer. Still, from the collage of snapshots from the movie and the picture that I used in the last point, it is VERY clear that the two pieces of content are quite similar visually. In parts of the movie that are not pictured in this article, any scene that takes place in woods in Logan is similar to the scenes that take place in wooded areas in The Last of Us. Also, the scene that takes place in the Munson's house is very similar to the scene in The Last of Us where Ellie escapes on one of Tommy's horses to a ranch. The houses are very similar in design (especially bedrooms).
3. The actors in both Logan and The Last of Us look uncomfortably similar
As I stated before, people have been talking about Hugh Jackman portraying the role of Joel in The Last of Us movie for a while now. This is nothing new for the internet. The release of Logan simply fueled their own casting fire. In Logan, the character Logan is supposed to look disheveled and washed up due to certain plot points that led up to this film. Since the disheveled look is key in The Last of Us, it simply made it easier for people to look at Hugh Jackman in this film and see Joel in Logan.
4. Joel and Ellie are VERY similar to their counter parts, Logan and Laura
It seems almost repetitive to point out the similarities in Joel and Logan. The two of them lost so many people (Joel losing his daughter, Sarah, and Logan losing Charles Xavier in the film Logan alone, but we aren't going to go into the other losses because that's too heart breaking) and the other part that makes them similar is their views on the world. In the beginning of both Logan and The Last of Us the two characters do not trust anyone in the world around them because of the losses that they have dealt with. Looking at Ellie and Laura is a bit more interesting, but nonetheless, they are very similar. Although there is a language barrier between the two, their own personalities are alike. Both Laura and Ellie are very strong willed and determined characters. Ellie pushes through Joel's tough exterior like Laura does with Logan and in the end grow closer to their father figures. It is also important to notice that both of these young women kick ASS like no one else in their universes.
5. Last but not least, the GRITTINESS
Logan is being known for how gritty and dark it is compared to other Wolverine movies. This is clear due to the violence and deep emotion that is in the film. Looking at The Last of Us, the reason why it won the Game of The Year in 2013 is because of the amazing job it does with telling a story that conveys real emotions. Though The Last of Us was not the first game to do this, this game did it better than any other game. Of course a game about a zombie apocalypse needs to be gritty, but unlike a game like Left 4 Dead which is just a first person shooter with zombies, The Last of Us has a gritty yet beautiful story to go along with the zombie killing.
The film and the movie have their differences, but they also have many similarities. If we never get a movie adaptation of The Last of Us, then at least we have Logan which in some ways is like The Last of Us but with mutants and no zombies. If there is to be a movie adaptation of the game, then we can only hope that Hugh Jackman is casted for the role of Joel. Only time will tell what the future has in store for The Last of Us movie.
(Also a sequel to The Last of Us has been confirmed by Naughty Dog which I am personally pumped for)
