Introduction
Basic movie information
Directed by: Eli Roth
Full name: Borderlands the movie
Release date: 2024
What to expect: Chaos based on the Borderlands franchise with the twist it takes place in the real world.
Additional information: While you can watch the movie and have fun if you have not played games, it is more fun if you have played the Borderlands games. A lot of references come back, including side characters, or characters hidden in the background.
Initial thoughts
My initial thoughts were a bit skewered, having not read any spoiled reviews, or major beats. I did know they had an older cast, which had me worried. What worried me the most was that video game adaptions usually stray very far from the original materials, like changing up characters. I am fine with using different characters, or even a different team setup, as long as the characters are true to their nature, or try to look the same. With worry in my heart, I went to the cinema, to see what chaos the Borderlands would instill into my heart.
Enjoyment
Plot summary
The movie opens with a narration done by Cate Blanchet who plays Lilith, the main driving force in the Borderlands world. She is a bounty hunter who gets forced to return to her home world, the most fucked up planet ever, Pandora. She needs to locate a missing girl, Tiny Tina, but as you would expect, a lot goes horribly wrong. Lilith is soon joined by an outcast group of vault hunters and learns the truth about what hides on Pandora.
Was the movie fun?
I went to the cinemas with my wife, who is also an avid Borderlands game fan. We both had mixed feelings going to see this movie, but as soon as Cate Blanchet came into sight on Promethea, and her iconic look, I was fine with the older cast. We just loved the movie, it had a good plot that has been adapted from the story, and not just a conversion. You can see it is supposed to take place in a real world.
The gunplay was satisfying, and I heard a complaint that there was not enough blood. But that did not bother me. Compared to Atlas, it really felt like they had the short end of the stick, until a certain point in the movie where Atlas just knew, they messed with the wrong people. Just like in the first Borderlands game, the Atlas corporation is the main antagonist.
Emotional impact
The actors put a lot of emotion in their roles. Jamie Lee Curtis plays Patricia Tannis, who is a crazed scientist. They portrayed her older, which is fine, but she nailed the crazy awkward part. And it was obvious in the story why they went this route, I won’t spoil, but this movie does play on your emotion in a few scenes. There is loss, betrayal, well-used tropes, and it did all it should do.
Rating for Enjoyment
After thinking about all the aspects this movie has to give for enjoyment, emotional impact, and other factors, I decided to give the enjoyment section of this movie review, an 8.0.
The Borderlands movie has a cohesive plot, it was fun to watch, it made sense for people who have played the Borderlands movie.
Pacing and audience
Pacing of the movie
In this part, I will elaborate on the pacing of the movie, does it go too fast? Skip some story beats? Maybe it dragged on too long? Well, I will be direct, it did not drag on too long. There was a good amount of, peace, action, and repeat. Which is perfect for the pacing. We don’t only get to see the action side of characters. We see them boil in miserable and happy emotions, which is what we want from a movie. You can see the actors are invested in their roles, especially Marcus, Guns, guns, guns!
What audience is targeted?
It is clear what audience is targeted, people who have played the Borderlands franchise. However, they explained it clearly and well enough in the movies that if you did not play the games, you can still enjoy it. People are complaining two characters are missing, this is an adaptation, not a conversion. Maybe they will be in the next movie, perhaps they are just not in the adaption, instead of worrying, enjoy the movie.
Script and dialogue
The script felt cohesive and fun. Claptrap, who is played by Jack Black, is perfect with some of his gaming quotes. One in particular had to be in the movie, Claptrap is a robot that only has one wheel and cannot climb stairs. In the game, he regularly shouts, stairs, no! And, yes, it is in the movie, and it was satisfying. It feels as if everyone gets their share of dialogue in the scenes. Even Krieg, who is a psycho! He shows emotions in his own way, just like in the games.
What message does this movie instill?
The message I got from this movie, is that violence is okay. No, just kidding, the real message it gives, is that sometimes it might hurt to go back to a place that hurt you. But occasionally, it might give you closure, or perhaps something else in this movie, I won’t spoil, but they played it well for the movie adaptation!
Rating
After some consideration, thinking over the dialogue and the scenes, I give the pacing and audience section a rating of 8.5.
The cast is great, I mean, they are all good, and a bit older, but it is clear in the movie why. They all play their roles perfectly! Some characters don’t make it in directly, but they are in the background.
Graphic style
Quality of graphics and art direction
In many of the video game adaptions, they change skin color, hair color, accents, you name it. This is something I don’t stand behind. You can swap up the story, change character layout, I am fine with a lot if you have a decent script. But if you want something else, don’t put the wrong label on it. The Borderlands movie is not an example of this, they portrayed the characters very well. The art was great, we saw Skags, Threshers, they looked not as cartoony as in the video games, but as if you encountered them in real life, monsters!Â
The cast looked like they did in the video games, Roland is a soldier from the Crimson Lance, specialized in missiles and turrets, which he shows off in the movie. Tiny Tina loves explosions, and yes, countless things are going to explode, like in Borderlands, the CGI is actually good, I loved the special effects!
Rating
It took me some time to give the graphics and art style of this movie a good rating. But after considering a lot, I decided to give it a 7.5.
There were some minor issues, but nothing that would detract from enjoying the movie.
Sound and music
Music score and how it contributed to the movie
The music in this movie fitted perfectly, we even heard the original Borderlands theme. While music is not the main centerpiece, it does provide ample support for the cast. It gives life to locations, as well as silence on lawless planet. This movie did not randomly put music here and there. It is well thought out.
Acting and lines
The movie focuses on a small cast, which is good because if you have too many characters you can’t develop all of them properly. They all have their own backstory, it shows in the dialogue and how they deliver the lines. While all of them did great, I am amazed at Jamie Lee Curtis playing Patricia Tannis, you can see she is crazy, deranged and seen some weird stuff. All the cast seem to put up with her antics, but she is just a pragmatic thinker.
Rating
After a lot of consideration, I rated the sound and music section with a 9.
The sound complements the movie perfectly, the cast are well-known actors, and it is clear why they were chosen for their roles. Roland does take the leader role upon himself, but it is clear he needs Lilith for guidance and support, which is precisely how it goes in the video games.Â
Personal experiences favorite scene
There were many fun scenes, and things that made me chuckle. But my favorite scene has to be near the ending with the bad guy Atlas. I won’t spoil too much, but I loved how he died, and if you know the Borderlands games, you might realize what I am referring too, karmic justice at its highest point!
Rating
My own personal rating of this movie is a 7.5.
Thoroughly enjoyable, great cast, good CGI, a good story, a nice and cohesive plot with a lot of gunplay. All in all, I am glad I saw this in the cinema!
Last words
Pros
- This is a faithful adaption, inside references make it a treat for people who love the series
- Each of the cast, especially Cate Blanchet, delivers strong and memorable scenes, it aligns with the video games
- The plot is engaging, cohesive and well-balanced with character development. Neither rushed nor dragging
- This move has high quality CGI, for example, for the Skags and Threshers. This enhances the appeal of the movie
- The music in this movie, along with the sound effects of gunplay are very satisfying
- The main antagonist is portrayed well, he feels like a sincere threat until the heroes turn the table
- There are plenty of action filled scenes, paced perfectly with scenes of downtime for character development
- The humor is directly from the Borderlands movie, it makes no sense, but it is fun.
Cons
- This movie might be less fun if you have no idea what Borderland is
- The older cast, despite putting down a very good movie, might not appeal to people who expected them to be younger
- The missing characters, while fine with the movie adaptation, might displease some people
All in all, if you enjoyed the Borderlands games, you will love this movie, I am sure of it. You can even enjoy it if you have never played them. It might even entice you to start playing the franchise!
Final Rating
8.2
Please let me know what you think of the Borderlands movie review in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
If you liked reading this review, maybe you would like to share this review with your friends.
Ryan Buchanan
Excellent review Sven. I might have to give this a watch
supersven
I hope you will enjoy the movie!
Silentrets
I think your review is unbiased. I saw Rotten Tomatoes score its like %9, it was really biased cuz they think it should be the same like game in every details. They should give a chance to watch.
supersven
They should indeed give it a chance to watch!
fano23
Heard about some adaptions from video games that I still have pending to watch, but never heard of this one. Looks like a good movie, already noted it
ellemby
Even though I didn't play a single game from Borderlands franchise yet and subsequently not interested in this movie , I have enjoyed reading this tidy review. keep up the good work!
emperoru
When Borderlands movie was announced i really hoped that movie would be decent, than i saw Metacritic score. I was in schock, couldn`t believe that movie is super ass. Now I have hopes
Alamar
Thanks for very good article reviewing movie in all aspects, now i know the movie is probably good enought to watch it.. However i didn't finish any part of game series. So I have a question, would playing Tales from the Borderlands adventure game instead fps before watching this movie would be helpful or it doesn't matter?
twigalucie
I was so sad when I heard how bad the reviews for this movie were. But on the other hand, we kinda enjoy trashy game adaptions aswell, so I wasn't too worried. But your review gives me hope this one might be one of those the critics just don't get what the fun of it is 😀
Twigas_Hobbes
"catch a guuuuuuuuun - wa I'll never doing that again" 😀
thanks for giving us hope
on the other hand... it's Jack Black no way it won't be fun 😀
Vitalikboykiller
This review is perfect. I think that movie deserves a chance to watch.
Vibe
Nice review! It is the first positive review of the film I have read 🙂
Nicole
I'm happy to see that there's lots of emotional impact in this movie! I'm not a fan of action movies due to their general lack of meaning and hyperness... and I haven't played a Borderlands game before, but I love Adventure and Comedy, plus the cast looks cool! Maybe I'll give this movie a try 🙂
Myr
I think this is the first positive review for this movie that I read. You really took you time to analyse the different aspects. I might give it a chance and watch it. Thanks for your work.
Delicious Bacon
Eh, smaller cast has both good and bad sides of it. It's good because not even the first BL had that many characters, but if they left out some iconic ones, that might hurt some fans.
I think I'll have to give it a watch myself to judge it.
By the way, you might include the box office details (budget and earnings). The movie flopped pretty hard in that area.
FranckCastle
Thank you for the review! I still won't watch it because I'm not interested in the source material (yeah, yeah, I know, sorry) but that makes me reconsider the opinion most people had ("yet another awful video game adaptation").
Silentrets
I looked rotten tomatoes again. now score is 10%. i don't know why they gave low score.