Movie review
Viewed on: Digital
Released: 2024
This movie has a hit a lot of negative feedback since its release and failed in the box office. However, having enjoyed the Borderlands games in recent times, check my reviews here, I decided to give it a chance. A friend of mine, who really loves the franchise, had seen it and enjoyed it. I ignored the critics and went with his recommendation.
In a sentence; it's a lot better than the criticism has led me to believe and with so many nods to games it's something worthwhile your time one evening if you're a fan of the games. However, it does fumble on a few key things and misses an opportunity to become a popular hit as we approach an imminent release of Borderlands 4.
Let's take a trip to Pandora for a closer look!
There's a strong cast of big Hollywood names in the production; Cate Blanchett as red-haired, bad-ass Lilith and Jamie Lee Curtis as socially awkward, nerdy Tannis. While Jack Black's voicing suits the loud-mouthed but clumsy robot Claptrap and Kevin Hart as beefy soldier Roland.
Cate is the strongest in her role here, the real star of the show, as she really digs in as bounty hunter Lilith in a convincing way. Close to her tough personality from the games, Cate has the most screen presence and does a brilliant job in the role, feeling natural in the action scenes as well.
While I feel Jamie does her Tannis personality and voice spot-on, she's underutilised in her screen presence. Same goes for Kevin, who this time around plays a more serious and sombre personality than usual, sadly blending into the background.
Young actress, Ariana Greenblatt, does her Tiny Tina role great, capturing the wackiness of game persona. Gina Gershon does the seductive but cunning Mad Moxxi well too! Florian Munteanu playing Krieg is funny in his rare moments of screen time, but fades away behind the other characters and lacks something to make him more than just an iconic masked guy from the game cover art.
Costumes and movie sets are in general great as they nail the aesthetic of the post-apocalyptic planet Pandora, with recognisable areas like the tour bus, Moxxi's bar and desert aesthetic. The colour schemes reflect the vibrant style of Borderlands 2. Overall, it lends from the first two games in a wonderful way visually, with a ton of small easter eggs for fans to spot and enjoy.
Cate sporting the vibrant orange hair as Lilith and Ariana with her bunny eared Tina outfit really blend nicely into this backdrop and look how I'd imagined a Borderlands live action would be.
The action scenes are cool, capturing the chaotic and fast gameplay of the games. With the visual aesthetic looking so much alike, the gunfights and action portray the games like they're supposed to. The blend between lots of colour and the yellowy, brown desert backdrop of the planet give it an undoubtedly Borderlands look, perhaps just needing a more gunfights that last longer to capture the main essence of the games.
Sadly, all the splatter, gore and over the top violence that makes the kills and deaths of the enemies so comic and satisfying from the games is missing. The movie has dialled completely away; featuring no blood, gore or even satisfying feedback for hitting the enemies with bullets. It ruins the moment of close-up kills and dampens the intensity of the countless gunfights this franchise is famous for.
It's almost looking like something is missing from the final editing when it comes to how people react to being shot. Clearly edited to receive a low age rating as I heard they had a more violent version in production. A missed opportunity in hindsight and would've made the movie stand more out.
I would also have liked a little extra time used to properly explain the main plot behind the franchise. It moves a little quickly along having to cover the concept of the vaults, the background for the characters and then have a cohesive story on top of that. In general, a problem for many videogame-based movies.
Although I do appreciate the solid plot, delving into many of the aspects taken from the games, they could've done a lot worse and it keeps you entertained throughout.
The cast maybe seems a bit old in comparison to the demography, fine for me, but maybe 15-20 years olds prefer a younger cast with modern actors? I'm unsure, as both Cate and Jamie deliver their character roles true to the franchise. I'm sure a bit more humour could've helped too.
If you enjoy the games with their comic reliefs, action and postapocalyptic style, then this is going to be a serviceable watch. I would've enjoyed adding the graphic violence and more of the humour to truly nail what the games are about, but this is far from as bad as critics wanted it to be and the production value is high.
While in no way fantastic, I enjoyed it and felt the Borderlands atmosphere was there. Sadly, I doubt we'll ever see a sequel with the same gang.
