Directed by Ryan O’Donnell, Jason Bertrand, Cesar Quintero, and Matt Chandronait.
Normally, I’d agree that a behind-the-scenes documentary about a video game isn’t necessarily the most fascinating premise for a documentary. However, with The Last of Us: Part II (one of my favorite games ever made — and the sequel to my favorite game of all time), it is an entirely different story. The original game (i.e. Part I), which spawned an HBO adaptation last year (which I’ve reviewed every episode of, click here to have a look at those), is widely regarded as one of the best narrative games of the modern era, and, since its sequel is largely critically beloved, you might expect its releases to be all breezy and undramatic. In actuality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Not only was this video game about a global pandemic and zombie-esque outbreak released in the middle of an actual global pandemic in 2020, but the studio was also the victim of a massive leak of the game that detailed its most controversial and boundary-pushing twists leading to toxic online vocal minorities review-bombing it and harassing the people involved with it, despite the critical acclaim.
No one could’ve possibly known just how big this franchise would get when it was first announced back in the day, and no one would’ve predicted, after the enormous success of the first game, just how controversial its critically lauded sequel would be or just how toxic online commentary would be upon, and leading up to, its release. This documentary chronicles the journey of the people involved with Naughty Dog — the video game developer who created the games — from initial pre-production and an overwhelming production. Then, eventually, we also get honest conversations about the impact of COVID-19 on the development of the game, as well as the catastrophic leaks that complicated the release of arguably the most anticipated PlayStation video game release of all time.
At two hours, this is an extensive documentary that is more than thirty minutes longer than the original game’s behind-the-scenes documentary. Does the documentary justify its length? Well, I think so, but it is not without its faults. Let’s be clear about something upfront, which is that the most interesting aspect of this game’s release — i.e. the leaks, the toxic online feedback, and the COVID-19 pandemic — isn’t actually the primary focus of the documentary. As the on-screen text specifies, although the production of the documentary started all the way back in 2016, they stopped filming during the COVID-19 outbreak, and there is no internal footage of Naughty Dog reacting to the leaks in real-time here. If that is all you’re interested in — and, frankly, it is the most interesting part of the story — do be aware that all we get are retroactive reactions filmed in 2023 — i.e. three years after the game’s release — in the documentary’s final twenty minutes, which also includes comments from Naughty Dog President and The Last of Us Part II creative director and co-writer Neil Druckmann that speak to the future of the franchise.
It is obviously a shame that we don’t get that aforementioned immediate reaction from this documentary (although we do get meaningful and heartbreaking comments about the experience from Neil Druckmann, Troy Baker, and Laura Bailey, among others). But that isn’t to say that the documentary is a failure by any means. Quite the contrary. There are so many valuable and vulnerable moments captured here — and lesser unknown stories about development — that help to give you an idea of what went into crafting the final product for better and worse. Admittedly, I do think the many chapter title cards throughout the two-hour documentary make it sometimes feel like a series of behind-the-scenes special features rather than a cohesive whole. I think you could leave some things on the cutting room floor, and thus end up with a tighter and more captivating documentary, but I can also understand the idea of throwing everything in here.
So, if the presumed highlight of the making-of documentary is relegated to the last twenty-ish minutes due to not having the footage — as a direct result of COVID-19 — what are the actual highlights present here, and why should one seek it out? There are so many things. For one, seeing the controversial scene that, out of context, infuriated the internet through the eyes of the actors in motion capture suits is a genuinely moving experience, if you’re invested in these games. The emotion that Baker, Bailey, and Ashley Johnson show in these moments illustrates just how important this is to the people who make the game. Secondly, Halley Gross’ passionate response to a certain superficial and unresearched preview article that overlooked female artists’ input in creating the narrative, which features violence against women and perpetrated by women, feels like such an important commentary on female experiences in storytelling and how stereotypical understandings of said experiences are limiting. Thirdly — and perhaps most interestingly — the documentary also functions as an honest depiction of improper work-life balances and overwhelming ‘crunch.’ The documentary shows how Naughty Dog was stretching themselves too thin, how their culture needed to change (and the initial steps taken to accommodate that change), how they were victims of their own pristine reputation as the best developers of narrative-driven games insofar as they didn’t know when to stop making everything bigger and bigger and bigger. It details sacrifices.
We see people at the developer express serious doubts, we see puzzled reactions, we see people being fed up about Neil Druckmann not being able to make it to a meeting, and then eventually we see the joy of knowing all those days and nights weren’t for nothing. While the leaker did a lot of damage, the game was received warmly by the industry, critics, and fans (it is always important to remember that the silent majority actually often is the majority, even though the vocal minority crowd the online space). The documentary is thus a captivating rollercoaster ride that features vulnerable and honest assessments of the experience of creating the game and receiving feedback on it, the hardship involved with making it bigger (and not knowing when enough was enough), but also that video game development is a collaborative experience. Because although I’ve written above that there are things that could be left on the cutting room floor, I also really like that the documentarians weren’t satisfied with having the most famous people involved with the game tell the story. This documentary has been allowed to be from many different internal perspectives, and it is thus a very satisfying internal, making-of documentary, even though it doesn’t actually get to cover the most fascinating aspect of it all (for understandable reasons). This is a strong and honest behind-the-scenes documentary that tells the story of the bumpy release of one of the most anticipated narrative games ever made. It is a shame that the camera crew wasn’t there to capture the reactions to the leak as it happened, but, even without that, there is still a lot to chew on here for fans of the game and those interested in the complicated effort that goes into making a sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed video games ever made.
7.7 out of 10
– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 