Borderlands
review by Bobby Blakey
I love all things, Eli Roth. While he sticks mostly to horror and thrillers every so often, he branches out to take on something different. Back in 2021 he took on the task of bringing the popular video game Borderlands to the big screen. For whatever reason it took years for it to finally get ready for release including reshoots done by Tim Miller due to Roth’s commitment on Thanksgiving. The film features a great cast including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jamie Lee Curtis and is now finally heading to the big screen.
Borderlands follows Lilith, an infamous bounty hunter with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home, Pandora, the most chaotic planet in the galaxy. Her mission is to find the missing daughter of Atlas, the universe’s most powerful S.O.B. Lilith forms an unexpected alliance with a ragtag team of misfits – Roland, a seasoned mercenary on a mission; Tiny Tina, a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg, Tina’s musclebound protector; Tannis, the oddball scientist who’s seen it all; and Claptrap, a wiseass robot. Together, these unlikely heroes must battle an alien species and dangerous bandits to uncover one of Pandora’s most explosive secrets. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.
I want to start by saying other than knowing the game exists and knowing some of the character designs from the game I know little to nothing about this property. With that being said, I have no clue how close to the game it keeps to so just going to have to review it based on the movie on its own. With that I know the film is getting hammered and it does have plenty of issues, but I can say I still had some mindless fun with it.
The film reminds me of the 80s sci-fi films like Steel Dawn and Cherry 2000 smashed with the visuals and tone of Guardians of the Galaxy. I love those old flicks and the cheese of the dialogue, and the convoluted plot is all over the place and a mess at times, but it still manages to entertain with the ridiculousness of it all. Right out the gate with the voice over set up you can tell that this is going to be a silly ride, and they leaned into it on every level. Some of it works and some doesn’t but I think Roth made the film in that old school vibe like he wanted.
A lot of the film seems to spend more time just setting up the bigger action sequences and hopes to make a spectacle of them all. I am fine with that, but it would have been more effective to have a little more character development outside of Blanchett’s Lilith. She is clearly the primary focus, but it wants us to care about them all without giving us any time to do so. There is also a quick team up scenario that happens too fast for me with the first meeting being a conflict and then just ok with each other. It just felt rushed on that and ready to get into the action again.
Most of the jokes fall flat with Jack Black as Claptrap about the only one that hits most of the time. Blanchett is good in the role and while carries it well doesn’t always feel right for the role. Kevin Hart as the straight man is fine and he carries the action well, but in this world, I would have expected a bit more lighthearted and fast paced banter for him to shine, but sadly its not here. The final act is a mess and a rush to the finish line that leans into the CGI to accomplish the evolution of some of the characters and just feels like a different film than what we were in before.
I wanted to love this new world and excellent cast, but instead it never fully finds its target. I didn’t hate it either and have a feeling it might be one that becomes a guilty pleasure just from the action and visual standpoint.
In addition to the film, this release offers up numerous featurettes that takes audiences behind bringing the popular game to life. Head into the chaotic world with Borderlands available now on digital, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD and On Demand on October 29th from Lionsgate.
