Borderlands Review — Arid Video Game Adaptation Offers Very Little Fun

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Once upon a time, August was a dumping ground for studio blockbusters that seemed destined to bomb or counter-programming plays to serve audiences left unfulfilled by the summer’s biggest films. That changed with Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, but ten years later, we seem to be returning to that classical trend with the release of Borderlands, a long-delayed video game adaptation that should be a smash on paper but ends up being one of the worst examples of the video game movie curse in recent memory.

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Borderlands Review

Borderlands follows bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett) as she is hired by a wealthy client to rescue his daughter (Ariana Greenblatt), only to discover that the girl may be more important than she seems. It’s essentially an amalgamation of every generic sci-fi trope you can think of, which is not a great place for a would-be franchise to start. 

Borderlands’s fundamental flaw is that its band of characters does not work together. Whether this is a direction/cast chemistry issue or an issue with the way their dynamic is written in the script is unclear, but they are never believable as a team. Although dysfunction can sometimes be entertaining in itself, the characters’ personalities aren’t developed enough for the movie to work in this regard, either.

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Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Kevin Hart as Roland, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Florian Munteanu as Krieg and Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis in Borderlands. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes

The one character in the film that is genuinely enjoyable is Jack Black’s voice performance as the robot Claptrap. In the games, Claptrap was an NPC character known for cracking jokes, so it makes sense that he is the movie’s primary source of comedic relief. Although Black is doing his usual schtick, it’s the only part of the film offering anything remotely resembling levity.

In the lead role, you can almost sense Cate Blanchett’s regret for signing onto this project. Her lack of enthusiasm is palpable, which is disappointing, as she has the charm and delivery to make a badass action heroine like Lilith work. She just needs to be given better material to work with. Hopefully, she at least earned a paycheck with multiple zeroes to continue pursuing projects that do interest her.

Barbie breakout star Ariana Greenblatt doesn’t fare much better as fan-favorite character Tiny Tina. Her attempts at jokes are consistently unfunny and annoying. It also doesn’t help that Greenblatt’s character is the worst-written in the script, functioning as a human MacGuffin with a backstory that doesn’t make much sense and an arc that is effectively rendered meaningless by Lilith’s. 

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Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Florian Munteanu as Krieg, and Kevin Hart as Roland in Borderlands. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate

In her supporting role, Jamie Lee Curtis fails to make much of an impression, giving a painfully nondescript performance. Edgar Ramírez is laughably bad as the exaggerated capitalist villain. And as the “Psycho” character Krieg, another well-known face of the franchise, Florian Munteanu feels like he’s doing his best attempt at a Drax impersonation — just without any of the charm.

However, the worst waste of anyone in the cast is Kevin Hart, who feels woefully miscast as Roland. It’s clear from the movie’s tone that they want to recapture the magic of something like the new Jumanji films (which also starred the duo of Hart and Black). But casting Hart as a straight-laced character with almost no jokes was a serious mistake on the part of the filmmakers.

Even though the comedy of the movie is an almost utter failure, one could almost forgive Borderlands if the action were exciting. Unfortunately, apart from one car chase in the second act that uses its setting in an intriguing way, the action sequences are as dull and generic as the story. They lack any sense of spatial geography or kineticism, both of which could have helped elevate the film and keep it engaging and entertaining.

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Kevin Hart as Roland, Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Florian Munteanu as Krieg, and Cate Blanchett as Lilith in Borderlands. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate

That being said, the movie’s visuals do a good job of recreating the world of Borderlands. The CGI and production design are both very impressive, although one would expect no less given that the budget is rumored to exceed $100 million. It’s all a facade, though, having the look of a big-budget blockbuster but the feel of an amateurish fan film. 

Is Borderlands worth watching?

Despite having an A-list cast, solid visuals, and an IP that offers loads of potential, Borderlands is an example of what not to do when it comes to blockbuster filmmaking. Although it does have a few moments where it comes close to being what it should be, these bits only make the rest of the movie all the more disappointing.

Borderlands hits theaters on August 9.

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3/10

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Sean Boelman

Written by Sean Boelman

Articles Published: 188

Sean is a film critic, filmmaker, and life-long cinephile. For as long as he can remember, he has always loved film, but he credits the film Pan's Labyrinth as having started his love of film as art. Sean enjoys watching many types of films, although some personal favorite genres include music documentaries, heist movies, and experimental horror.