While many believe that Hollywood is currently in the “Golden Age” of video game adaptations, that seems to be true mostly on television. Examples like HBO’s The Last of Us and Prime Video’s Fallout have won over both diehard fans and critics. That’s not so much the case with recent video game adaptations on the big screen. Last year alone, Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s broke incredible box office records, the former becoming the highest-grossing video game movie of all time. Ironically, those two are also some of the most uninspired and downright lazy video game films ever. Their biggest defenders, besides literal children, are self-proclaimed fanatics who based their enjoyment on how many times they could point at something they recognized. So, if you’re interested in doing this for an hour and forty minutes, then Lionsgate’s Borderlands was made for you.
Based on Gearbox Software‘s best-selling video game franchise of the same name, Borderlands (2024) comes from writer-director Eli Roth. The filmmaker is best known for his prominent career in the horror genre with hits like Cabin Fever, Hostel, and last year’s Thanksgiving. Why Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford and Lionsgate thought Roth was the right person to bring Borderlands to life on film is beyond anyone. Regardless if you’re a fan of Roth or not, this movie, as a whole, feels like a hack job that only exists to branch out IP. There are moments in Borderlands where you can see its true potential, though. Brief glimpses where the wacky, colorful designs and adult humor of the video game series all translate into a cinematic sci-fi Western universe worth exploring. But, again, any sign of good faith is then quickly washed away by a lifeless screenplay and sloppy CGI.
Set in the far reaches of space, Borderlands follows infamous bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett) as she’s tasked with finding the missing daughter of Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), an arms manufacturer and business mogul who’s the most powerful man in the universe. In order to find her target, Lilith must reluctantly return to her post-apocalyptic home planet of Pandora, where all kinds of villainous scum, monsters, and “vault hunters” run amok. It’s believed that an ancient race of aliens called the Eridians once ruled the entire galaxy and stored all of their treasures and knowledge in a hidden vault on Pandora. Bandits and vault hunters alike turned the planet into a wasteland after decades of ruthless searching. In a twist of fate, the old legend that initially drove Lilith away from her home soon brings her face to face with Atlas’ daughter, Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), but she’s not alone.
Courtesy of Lionsgate
With the help of Roland (Kevin Hart), a former soldier of Atlas, and her beefy bodyguard Krieg (Florian Munteanu), a former “Psycho” warrior turned guardian, Tiny Tina escaped the clutches of her so-called father with one of the keys to unlocking the legendary vault of Pandora. Lilith has no choice but to join their foolish quest with the Crimson Lance — the private military of the Atlas Corporation — hot on their trail. Oh, and an old CL4P-TP, aka Claptrap robot (voiced by Jack Black), who was programmed to serve Lilith, also tags along because why not? When our gang of misfits comes into contact with the likes of hostess/bar-owner Mad Moxxi (Gina Gershon) and Dr. Patricia Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), it becomes clear that no one has ever come this close to reaching the vault. For Lilith, specifically, her part in this swashbuckling adventure could tie into an ancient prophecy.
It’s easy to see where Eli Roth’s Borderlands first went wrong. For a summer blockbuster that boasts such a stacked cast, from the Oscar-winning Cate Blanchett to modern comedy icon Kevin Hart, it’s unbelievable how none of these big names have any chemistry together. Under some truly botched direction, everyone operates as if they’re in totally separate movies with different tones. Blanchett, to no surprise, can be an absolute badass as Lilith, even in her ridiculous costume and bright red wig — which, in fairness, does work within the hyper-stylized world of Borderlands. Whenever she gets the chance to show off her gunslinging moves, Blanchett does so with endless swagger. In all honestly, she alone almost saves the movie. Hart, while admirable, is arguably miscast as the noble Roland. The script often tries to push him as a co-lead, and Hart simply cannot hold his own standing next to Blanchett’s Lilith.
Speaking of miscasting, the biggest standout is Claptrap — the famous one-wheeled droid that arguably serves as the mascot of the Borderlands franchise. It was always unlikely that original Claptrap voice actor David Eddings would return for the Borderlands film adaptation. And, for the record, Jack Black has proven to be a more than capable voice actor with the Kung Fu Panda series under his belt, amongst others. In the case of Borderlands, though, it’s obvious that director Eli Roth has no idea how to utilize Black’s comedic timing, or even Claptrap as a character for that matter. Moreover, Roth’s screenplay, which is co-written by the mysterious pseudonym “Joe Crombie,” is just painfully unfunny. It doesn’t take long for Claptrap to become, frankly, the most annoying aspect of the film. Whenever Black does actually make Claptrap likable, Roth is there, ready to undercut the performance with another lame joke.
You need no further proof of Borderlands‘ haphazard production than Jamie Lee Curtis, who stumbles across her scenes as she spells out the plot with nonsensical exposition. It’s a miracle that more actors don’t look as genuinely lost as she does, given the cheap use of CGI. There are shots that will definitely give Borderlands fans the kind of spectacle they have always craved from a movie adaptation. However, again, you can count these moments with one hand. Audiences tend to give blockbusters a pass for rushed and plasticky visuals if the story can make up for it. Hell, certain scenes in Deadpool & Wolverine certainly needed CGI touch-ups, but people were able to quickly move on. This would be the case for Borderlands if not for an incredibly uncanny third act, one so visually abysmal that it looks no better than a video game cut scene from the mid-2000s.
Like with most video game films, the fans deserved a better adaptation than whatever this is. Sure, director Eli Roth implements tons of Easter eggs and visual references to the Borderlands video games, but it’s all flashy window dressing to hide the fact that there’s not much else on display here. As previously stated, some gave blind, nostalgic praise to The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Five Nights at Freddy’s for merely not completely betraying the source material, which is the bare minimum! Yet, it’s hard to imagine people doing that for this Borderlands movie when there’s a bit where Claptrap physically struggles to “poop” out bullets from behind after having been shot so many times. Do you get it… it’s like the robot has diarrhea and that’s why it’s funny! Surely, we deserve better? At least Ariana Greenblatt (Barbie) and Florian Munteanu of Creed fame walk away mostly unscathed.
Borderlands hits theaters on August 9!
Release Date: August 9, 2024.
Directed by Eli Roth.
Screenplay by Eli Roth & Joe Crombie.
Story by Eli Roth.
Based on Borderlands by by Gearbox Software.
Produced by Ari Arad, Avi Ard, & Erik Feig.
Executive Producers: Tim Miller, Randy Pitchford, K. Blaine Johnston, Lucy Kitada, Louise Rosner, Ethan Smith, Christopher Woodrow, Emmy Yu, & Strauss Zelnick.
Main Cast: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Janina Gavankar, Benjamin Byron Davis, Haley Bennett, Bobby Lee, Olivier Richters, Cheyenne Jackson, Charles Babalola, Steven Boyer, Ryann Redmond, & Harry Ford.
Cinematographer: Rogier Stoffers.
Composer: Steve Jablonsky.
Production Companies: Media Capital Technologies, Arad Productions, Picturestart, Gearbox Studios, & 2K.
Distributor: Lionsgate.
Runtime: 102 minutes.
Rated PG-13.
