I haven’t had this much fun at a movie in years!
“Borderlands” is a turbulent mix of science fiction, film noir, superheroes and post-apocalyptic road warriors and mixes them into a glorious chaos.
After establishing the universe with Cate Blanchett’s hilarious and scathing narration as Lilith, director Eli Roth goes full throttle and doesn’t let up until the credits roll.
We are bombarded with chases, explosions and black humor, often simultaneously.
My favorite moment was between Lilith and her robot sidekick Claptrap (voice: Jack Black) when he hums “scanning, scanning, scaaaaaning” while she rolls her eyes and asks if he can function without singing.
Claptrap answers “yes” and returns to his song, even louder and deliberately wrong.
They join a strange band of anti-heroes, which includes the frighteningly sweet Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) with her exploding stuffed animal collection, the berserker with a heart of gold Krieg (Florian Munteanu) and the charismatic ex-soldier Roland (Kevin Hart).
Together they roam the dangerous planet Pandora in search of an ancient treasure chamber and its keys.
Borderlands players will recognize familiar faces and locations, but the narrative has been changed to better fit the film genre.
They make a lot of references to the audience, such as referring to Lilith as a “Siren” at one point, but don’t expect the story or character details to resemble what you remember from the games.
I suspect that the avalanche of negative reviews from other critics stems from purist anger that the filmmakers dared to do something different with the source material and – what’s worse – had fun doing it!
How dare they!
Science fiction is supposed to be dark and gritty, leaving us shuffling out of the theater wondering if life is worth living – not giggling, throwing popcorn and walking out.
I could talk about the entertaining dialogue, the extravagant action sequences, and the sexy costume choices, but what I really loved about this film were the characters.
Eye candy aside (Lilith, thanks for once again confirming how much of a lesbian I am), this team is fascinating to watch. Even though they have larger-than-life personalities, they seem like real people out there in the galaxy trying to get through each day.
Borderlands is the pinnacle of escapist fantasy with a compelling ensemble cast, and I’m excited for it.
Alexa Chipman is a graphic designer, writer and YouTuber. She is interested in film and volunteers in cemetery cleaning. Chipman’s film reviews appear biweekly in the Argus-Courier.
