Borderlands (2024)

​"Borderlands" stars Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Bobby Lee, Édgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jamie Lee Curtis.  Released on August 9, 2024, the film has an outlaw teaming up with a band of misfits to find a missing girl.

The film is directed by Eli Roth, who also directed films such as "Cabin Fever", "Hostel", "Knock Knock", and "Thanksgiving".  It is based on the video game series developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K.  Whenever you go on a trip to an unknown planet, it's a good idea to have some traveling buddies to keep you company.  But if your comrades are just as chaotic as you are, surviving the planet would be the least of your concerns.  Hollywood is keeping the video game movie trend going this year by adapting another game whose popularity has come and gone.  The video game I'm referring to was "Borderlands", a space Western first-person shooter franchise involving several distinct characters surviving estranged planets and collecting loot.  The franchise has been praised for its toon-shading art styles, gameplay, and deranged humor, lasting from 2009 to 2022, with "New Tales from the Borderlands" being its recent installment.  To keep the hype going, Hollywood decided to bring the chaotic world of "Borderlands" to the big screen, with Eli Roth heading back to the non-adult territory following his theatrical take on his short film "Thanksgiving".  Was this space trip chaotic enough to extend the video game movie trend's winning streak, or was it too deranged for its own good?  Let's find out.

The story follows Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past.  Lilith is assigned by a powerful businessman, Atlas (Ramírez), to return to her home planet of Pandora to find his missing daughter, Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a deranged teen who's said to hold the key to unimaginable power.  While searching for Tina, Lilith finds herself joining forces with an unlikely team of misfits.  The team consists of Roland (Hart), a former mercenary seeking redemption; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina's musclebound protector; Dr. Patricia Tannis (Curtis), a scientist; and Claptrap (Black), a small wiseass robot.  Despite their differences, Lilith and the others must band together against alien monsters and dangerous bandits to complete her mission.

"Borderlands" is another video game franchise I wasn't interested in playing.  Its presentation was undeniably impressive, but I don't have much experience with first-person shooters to give it a try.  Regardless, I was interested in watching the film adaptation, similar to my previous experiences with video game-based movies.  One reason was its all-star cast, including Blanchett, Black, and Curtis.  When you have a star-studded cast like that, there's no doubt there will be some enjoyment regardless of the quality.  The other reason was that the marketing made it seem like Eli Roth's answer to Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy".  Both share a similar concept and tone: a band of unlikely misfits join forces on an action-packed, comical galactic adventure for all ages.  The question is: which one did it best?  After watching the film, I would say that "Guardians of the Galaxy" did it better.

This may seem like an unfair comparison since "Guardians of the Galaxy" is a Marvel superhero movie, and "Borderlands" is a deranged sci-fi shoot-em-up adventure.  However, their characters, setting, and presentation have a similar vibe that's impossible to ignore.  James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" offers characters deemed misfits or criminals, but it's backed up by its emotional core and genuine charm to make them lovable amid its thrillingly fun and heartfelt space adventure.  Eli Roth, known for his adult-rated horror films, attempted to deliver this similar feat in "Borderlands", which is quite tricky considering these directors are in different leagues of their own.  Since Roth impressed me with his previous movie, "Thanksgiving", I assumed he was starting to make a comeback.  Well, I assumed wrong.  "Borderlands" can be classified as a "Guardians of a Galaxy" rip-off that lacked any emotional weight to carry its visually chaotic wasteland and cast, but is it really as terrible as many people make it out to be?  Not really.

The marketing for "Borderlands" promised a flawed yet fun and chaotic roller coaster filled with indifferent characters attempting to survive Pandora and each other.  No, I'm not talking about the Pandora where the tall blue aliens reside.  So, it's safe to say that I believed it was exactly what it was going for.  I went to see it, and guess what?  I had an okay time watching it.  Understandably, it's a generic and tame space adventure that failed to take advantage of its source material's mature rating and ideas.  But as its own movie, it's a tolerable and periodically amusing experience with a better script hidden inside the Vault.    

Part of the reason is the cast, with some being obvious choices due to their popularity, such as Kevin Hart and Jamie Lee Curtis.  However, as long as they can provide some solid moments in their performances, which they did, the casting choices hardly matter.  Cate Blanchett as Lilith is no Chris Pratt's Star-Lord, but she made a good enough effort to make the film's protagonist a fierce, take-no-prisoners badass with a haunting past.  As for Kevin Hart, I admired his determination to broaden his career outside of comedies with his action-packed role of Roland, but I think that role should've gone to someone else.  He was okay with what he's given, but I wouldn't say it's his most memorable role yet.  Ariana Greenblatt appeared to have the most fun out of the entire cast.  Her portrayal of Tiny Tina captured the character's deranged and chirpy persona, although her moments outside her crazed personality weren't too special.  Jack Black as Claptrap was mainly the reason for the movie's hit-and-miss humor.  His vocal performance as the talkative small robot was distinctive in making him sound more robotic than his usual voice.  Additionally, Black's comedic moments were amusing enough to elevate the film's entertainment value, even if most of them weren't as clever as others.  Florian Munteanu and Jamie Lee Curtis were also tolerable in their performances as Krieg and Patricia Tannis, respectively.  

Another element I partially enjoyed was the action sequences.  "Borderlands" would've had the opportunity to use the source material's mature rating to go all out with its violence and psychotic lunacy.  But that didn't happen because Hollywood wanted to attract the younger audience who played the games themselves, hence its PG-13 rating.  However, that doesn't mean it's less entertaining.  The violence in "Borderlands" wasn't as memorable as Roth's gore-filled outings.  Nonetheless, the director fueled some energy and delight into the characters shooting down space bandits and hostile aliens, even though the style lacked the finesse it aimed for.  Even if everything else wasn't in top form, if the action scenes keep me entertained with its violence and direction, then I'm willing to forgive most, if not some, of its shortcomings.

So, what do I mean by "everything else wasn't in top form"?  I'm glad you asked.  "Borderlands" is another movie with the makings of another solid late-summer blockbuster treat, but it lacked the commitment to accomplish most of them.  One reason was its screenplay, which was initially written by Craig Mazin, known for his involvement in the HBO shows "Chernobyl" and "The Last of Us".  Unfortunately, Mazin was removed from the project, leaving Roth and Joe Crombie to handle the movie's script.  It had some intriguing ideas in developing its characters and world-building, especially Lilith, who shares a traumatic connection to her home world of Pandora.  However, its constrained plot and rushed pacing sabotaged this opportunity to expand these characters further, resulting in a lack of compelling stakes for its tamed group of insane misfits.  There's also the matter of its visual effects.  While some effects were decent enough to display Pandora's wastelands and vivid aesthetics, the rest fell short of achieving the same impact.  There were a few sequences where I could tell they were filming them in front of the green screen.  Fortunately, it's not as overbearing and excruciating as the green screen effects in the fourth "Expendables" movie, so that's a plus.

Overall, "Borderlands" is a tame yet mildly amusing space adventure that doesn't reach the level of chaos and heart I was hoping for.  I can admit that the film is flawed, but not to the point of being the "worst video game ever" or even the "worst film of the year".  It delivered some of the fun aspects it promised from the marketing, including its action and tolerable cast, which were enough to prevent it from being mauled by bandits.  Regarding everything else, it's also a generic sci-fi blockbuster that failed to strike an intriguing chord with its thin characters and constrained script.  The humor and visuals were also hit-and-miss, but not to the point of being excruciatingly barbaric, making the film a slightly watchable addition to the video game movie collection.  Fans of the video game series may not be satisfied with the final result, but those willing to see it for the cast and action may find a couple of loot within its lackluster product. 

C-