BORDERLANDS

Borderlands is a true mixed bag with strong performances from Cate Blanchett, Jack Black and Ariana Greenblatt and lacklustre world building and storytelling, creating a sadly dull adaptation of the popular video game series that strives to mimic the tone of other great films but fails to capture their creative spark the film needed to be a true hit.

I never thought we would see Cate Blanchett starring in a video game adaptation, let alone another Eli Roth film, but stranger things have happened. Roth is a filmmaker I have always admired, even if I have not liked the majority of his films as I usually don’t have the stomach for his passion for extreme gore and brutal violence that are prominently featured in his films. Armed with a cast of some of the biggest names in Hollywood and adapting a M-rated video game series for the big screen, this seemed like the perfect playground for Roth to play in, but sadly Borderlands is too often lost in exposition and forgets to be fun. Strong armed by a PG-13 rating that prevents the film from being truly crazy and for Roth to truly get his creative juices flowing, this is not the fun summer blockbuster event that fans of the series were hoping for.

It’s evident from the first scene that Roth is emulating James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy in the Borderlands with his team of ragtag characters. This outer space adventure is full of strange creatures and dangerous locations, a villain bent on obtaining an all mighty power, and a team of eclectic characters being the only ones who can stop the villain. It’s a setup we’ve seen many times in the science fiction genre, and while the film is based upon the popular video game franchise, nothing about the story feels distinct. While there is the opportunity for world building and to pull from the lore of the video games, Roth’s story and the screenplay he co-wrote feels more focused on delivering a paint by numbers plot rather than developing the world. Clocking in at just over ninety minutes, no time is spent investing the audience in the world of Pandora or bringing the characters to life. The scripted humour for the most part fails to land, minus some of Greenblatt’s moments as Tiny Tina and the majority of Black’s jokes as Claptrap; the villain is anything but menacing and threatening, and the big reveal going into the third act is obvious from the get go. It somehow managed to feel both rushed, but also slow for such a short runtime, which does not help with the audience’s enjoyment of the film. I haven’t played any of the video games, so it’s hard to judge how faithful of an adaptation Roth’s film is, but unlike other video game adaptations like Fallout, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Last of Us, which spent time building their worlds and characters, that is a secondary concern in this film. Never mind the fact that a mature rated video game has turned into a PG-13 rated film, as it truly restricts the humour, violence and strangeness of the adventure that unfolds, but it’s not conducive for Roth as a filmmaker who excels in the R-rated brutal and gory style of filmmaking.

When it comes to the aesthetics of Borderlands, it is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the set design is impressive and helps to transport audiences to the strange planet of Pandora. The costumes create a dangerous and vibrant array of characters you would only encounter on a foreign planet, but somehow it all looks cheap. The CGI is not the best for the most part and takes over the action sequences, and it really distracts from the visual world building that Roth and his team were trying to do, which is surprising given that this film had to have had a decent size budget and should have looked better overall. And while the soundtrack drops some fun needle drops, they feel like they are added after the fact to capture the success of soundtracks for similar films rather than being an organic element of the film meant to help round out the storytelling.

What really saves the film is the cast, as there are some heavy hitters in it. Blanchett is having a blast as our gun slinging heroine Lilith, giving a strong performance with some beautiful moments to bring her character to life as only a two time Academy Award winner could do with such a script. Black is pitch perfect as Claptrap, the robot tasked with helping Lilith on her quest; providing the film with the majority of the comedic relief and just making every scene he is in better and fun. Greenblatt revels in the madness of her character Tiny Tina, mixing a childhood curiosity and energy with an unhinged persona that allows her to shine amongst a cast of so many big names. Jamie Lee Curits does her thing, bringing her signature high energy to the role of Tannis. It’s hard not to enjoy Curtis in a film, as she is such a spirited actress, but the role really prevents her from doing anything unique and distinctive, allowing her to get lost in the shuffle. Kevin Hart does his usual comedic routine, though this time it largely falls flat due to the screenplay, making his performance more cumbersome to watch; while Florian Munteanu is menacing and sweet as Tiny Tina’s protector Krieg, even if his character has no narrative arc to follow. And then there is Edgar Ramírez as the film’s villain Atlas, and he really has nothing to do. He pops up in the film’s beginning to help set up the story, disappears for almost an hour and then conveniently reappears for his third act villain moment, and while Ramírez is a good actor, his performance is incredibly flat due to his character being written more as a plot device rather than an actual villain.

While I never expected Borderlands to be the breakout hit of the summer, given the talent both on camera and behind the scenes, I was hoping for some fun popcorn entertainment. Sadly, while there are some strong elements of the film, all the individual parts don’t come together to create a fun or coherent experience. It’s evident that there is a lot of lore to pull from the video games in terms of storytelling and world building, but Eli Roth’s latest film fails to harness it all together to create a big screen adventure that fans of the games will be hoping for. While Cate Blanchett, Ariana Greenblatt and Jack Black shine wherever they are on screen thanks to their committed performances that embrace the madness of this world, Borderlands never comes together narratively and results in a surprisingly bland and not very entertaining film that echoes far greater films that have achieved everything it tries to be.