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Reviews
The Last of Us (2023)
Thrilling show that stays true to the iconic video game
The season premiere for this show was a pleasant surprise. Far too many times have our hopes of video games brought to the world of cinema and television have been crushed, but alas, The Last of Us is here!
First I would like to commend the casting directors for their remarkable choices for the leading actors. Simply put, Pedro Pascal is the right Joel and Bella Ramsey is a great Ellie.
The first episode has several scenes that are nearly identical to the video game. What I like is that while most of the story and characters are identical, there are small twists that add novelty to the series.
All in all, if you're a fan of the video game, or if you're simply looking for an incredible new zombie show that can compete with the scale of The Walking Dead, then The Last of Us is for you.
If you've played the game, the intro title might give you the chills. I won't spoil it for you. Hop right in.
Route 10 (2022)
Half-decent entry into the Saudi film scene
This film doesn't have much going for it other than the novelty of it being set in Saudi Arabia and having popular Saudi actors in it. The car chases and action sequences aren't too terrible, but the real missing factor to this movie is the plot.
The actors really had to stretch themselves given the poor writing. Fatima Al-Banawi is an incredible actress, but some of her lines felt forced and I kind of have to blame the director and writer for that. The same goes for Baraa.
His performance was surface level at best, although I'm sure he gave it his all. Overall the structure of the plot was lackluster, and the character's didn't have any depth.
Plus the ending was super confusing and felt out of pocket to Khaleeji culture.
Despite all of these flaws, I'm just glad that we're seeing more films set in Saudi Arabia with Saudi actors in them. If I were Netflix, I would focus on empowering Saudi directors and actors as opposed to bringing in directors from other countries.
While we all share common storylines as Arabs, the Saudi scene is much different and a Saudi director would definitely pick up on nuances that Khaleeji viewers would appreciate.
Overall, good effort from everyone involved and I hope to see an improvement in Saudi film-making in general, specifically within the thriller and action genres.
Funduq Al Aqdar (2021)
Incredible thriller written by Fahad Al Butairi
This show proves to me that the future for original Saudi films and television is extremely bright.
The acting is great, the writing is tense, and the director's vision is brilliant.
Do yourself a favor and watch this show. I'm excited for the future of "Hollywood" in Saudi. Thank you Fahad and Mohammed for this great work.