Borderlands is definitely a movie and it definitely has a cast with full-time catering.
That’s probably the best way to start this review. I don’t know much about the Borderlands games, I can’t say I remember playing any of them. I did read up on the games and characters and I understand why fans of the game franchise loathes this movie.
Before I get into any of that, here are my thoughts. Borderlands is obviously solely for entertainment. It never tries to be this deep philosophical piece about human life and what our future will look like. It does take a jab at capitalism and it has some political themes, but none that you have to take to heart.
The film isn’t as bad as most people make it out to be. I enjoyed Cate Blanchett’s performance, but I don’t like that the character Lillith was changed so much. Jack Black as Claptrap was great, and probably one of my favourite parts of the movie.
I saw people comparing this movie to Guardians of the Galaxy, which is unfair because Marvel had James Gunn. He knows how to make a band of misfits feel like a family. Talking about family, there wasn’t enough in the writing to make this band of misfits feel like a family. I hardly cared about any of the characters.
The special effects were mediocre at best and it almost felt reminiscent of video games. I did like it when things went BOOM! I like BOOM! This movie has a lot of BOOMS! The action was cool, but not great.
Simply put this movie wasn’t memorable. It’s fun to watch during a night out with friends or on a date, but I wouldn’t make the effort to watch it again. It’s definitely not the worse movie of the year, but it is a movie.
And to those complaining about how they don’t honour the games, your feelings are valid. After so many great videogame adaptations, this one should’ve been much better. The casting could’ve been better. The production could’ve been better and Eli Roth… well, he should’ve done better.
