Last Updated on August 15, 2024 by
Borderlands is a 2024 Movie Directed by Eli Roth. The film stars Haley Bennett, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jack Black, with a runtime of 1h 42m, and will be released on August 09, 2024.
There isn’t such a thing as the video game adaptation curse, but there are certainly terrible video game adaptations. That’s where Eli Roth’s hideous-as-sin reimagining of Gearbox Software’s beloved looter-shooter franchise belongs. I’d call it “Cosplay: It would look as well to call it “The Movie,” except that would be a disservice to the professional cosplayers who have turned into Mad Moxxi, Tiny Tina, and other Vault Hunters with the best awards. Despite being based on games that are creatively crazy, the win for excitement, exploration, and action-packed hilarity in Roth’s movie is inexcusably dull and a one-dimensional chore.
Fueling the four-quadrant interest for game publisher 2K’s leading non-sports brand begins at the casting level because Lionsgate hired actors one would not expect to see in such a movie. The selection of Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis as actresses was quite off-beat. Still, they could not have asked for two more promising actresses to portray the paprika-haired bounty hunter Lilith and Tank Girl look alike Tannis, respectively.
To that, you can also add Jack Black doing the voice behind the sarcastic clapping droid Claptrap and Kevin Hart as the diminutive former soldier Roland seeking redemption, and we are light years away from such video game movie adaptations as the ones helmed by Uwe Boll or Paul W. S. Anderson. You can choose between several of those characters or play with friends in co-op mode, which directly relates to the misfits-on-a-mission premise Roth and co-writer Joe Crombie have concocted for this movie. It’s not an especially compelling mission: In all the universes of “Borderlands,” people want to get their hands on the Eridian technology. They refer to themselves as vault hunters, and even though Blanchett’s Lilith insists that she has no desire to find such treasure, they all chase the same goal.
Lilith makes herself believe it is a better mission when she is hired by the CEO of the Atlas Corporation (Edgar Ramírez) to find his “daughter,” Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt). Lilith isn’t the only one on the case since Tina is also said to possess the ‘key’ to a bunch of Eridian goodies. The spunky teen is unrelated to Atlas, a weak antagonist, but she demonstrates much more potential for evil than he has. She is not only accompanied by Roland and a nearly-naked berserker named Krieg (Florian Munteanu) but also hurls exploding rabbit dolls and wields the movie’s largest firearm.
Blanchett has the unenviable job of providing most of the overly expository Eridian prologue as voice-over, followed by a very speedy ‘Yeah, that does sound like some wacky shit, right?’ Even the filmmaking team seems unable to fully believe in their movie’s premise. In this sense, such biting self-parody can justify unimaginative plotting. Unfortunately, “Borderlands” sits uncomfortably in the shadow of “Deadpool & Wolverine” like a sideshow act to the main performance. Roth attempts to keep it up for the rest of the film (including a joke involving feces when psychos shoot up Claptrap and eat bullets, only to expel them later), but very few of the jokes hit. What can be said about the cast is that they seem very focused and dedicated to portraying these characters with the level of eccentricity depicted in their clothes and overall demeanor, even if it does seem that their costumes speak louder than their words most of the time.
The weakest link is Greenblatt, who portrayed the real girl in the ‘Barbie’ movie. Now, as fan-favorite Tina, she looks like the ultimate “Weird Barbie”: Her bleach blond hair with the bleach blond rinsing matches her plush bunny ears and the fashionable pink band-aid across her nose. But every time she opens her mouth (especially in the scene where she falls into the Thresher waste), we get a juvenile actress overacting her part instead of hearing Tina. Instead, look to Blanchett for a lesson on making even the most absurd character seem remotely reasonable. Fans already know what to expect from Lilith, whose destiny is meant to serve as a surprise in Roth’s retelling, but she plays the flamboyant vigilante without slipping into camp (the way she did in “Thor: These are just some of the names, but as you might have guessed, they are all associated with Vikings, such as “Ragnarok”).
Still, it would be rather difficult to look away from the bitter irony of seeing the very same actress portraying a video game character on similar notes two years after “Tár. ”Of course, gamers, for sure, have their favorites from this crew; therefore, the movie attempts to let each lead fight against an opponent of a higher rank – or, in Roland’s case, some opponents, it is a small army. However, as the movie progresses, the audience tends to predict what is going to happen next throughout the movie. When “Borderlands” opens up its box of secrets, even the characters cannot be bothered.
Borderlands 2024 Parents Guide Age Rating
Borderlands is Rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for intense sequences of violence and action, language, and some suggestive material.
Violence & Gore: The movie has several fight scenes with fists and weapons, shootouts, and even bursts of fire. Characters fight with different foes like psychos, soldiers, and other villains. The action, while highly choreographed and exaggerated at times, is extremely brutal and relentless. People use weapons such as guns, hand grenades, and even an explosive rabbit toy to cause harm. The movie, even though not very violent, has scenes of bloodshed, especially during gun battles and fight scenes. There are certainly elements of gross out humor, for instance, Claptrap, a sarcastic robot gets shot and later emissions bullets crudely. There is much violence, and the characters sustain severe physical injuries throughout the movie. For instance, Krieg, a berserker character, is illustrated as a half-naked man with numerous scars, which suggests that he has spent most of his time fighting. For instance, although Tiny Tina appears as a young woman, she is depicted using deadly force with a large gun.
Profanity: The movie has explicit language appropriate to the rating of PG-13. Characters occasionally swear, using words such as “shit” and “damn.” While not overly intense, profanity is present throughout the series, keeping with the dark humor tone of the manga. Some characters use lewd remarks or crank calls. There is a strong emphasis on gross-out humor, and it is not impossible to imagine the earlier mentioned scene with Claptrap.
Sexual Content: One of the characters is described as nearly naked, but pornography or full nudity is not depicted. He dresses like a rock star, yet the overwhelming eroticism is not present in the film. The movie could have some scenes of sexual suggestiveness and sexual teasing, but there is no portrayal of sex in the movie.
Substance/Drug Use: Some characters might be depicted as using alcohol or other substances, taking into account the vibe of the movie that is connected to the world of “Borderlands.” However, drug use is not the plotline of the film.
