WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Reviewed by Alex Richardson
Video game adaptations have a checkered history, falling out of favor after the Mortal Kombat film series ended. That was until a few years ago, when a combination of Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog hit theaters and made huge amounts at the box office. Video game adaptations are now billion-dollar movies, and the latest mega-blockbuster hopeful is Borderlands. Based on the bombastic world of the games of the same name, Borderlands tries to draw audiences in with humor and action, as well as an all-star cast. As a fan of the series who has played through almost every Borderlands title, I was thrilled to see this world brought to life in live-action. You could feel the love that the Gearbox family and friends had for their world. I wish their love for the world had made it into the film.
While it did have glimpses of what Pandora fans know and love, it was very boring as the characters and settings, while well done, failed to capture the life and chaos of the Borderlands series. It really felt like the Lacroix of Borderlands. All just foaming at the mouth, no flavor. The weakest essence of the source material, despite being little more than a lifeless plot propelled by massive star power. While the star power was there, it felt… out of place. Kevin Hart, a well-known comedian, cast as one of the few stoic characters in the series just felt wrong. I must say, however, that Tina’s background… is something I was happy with, how well she and Claptrap were presented. While I wasn’t expecting a 1:1 retelling of the original story, this film felt like it didn’t have its own identity. If you watch the film without knowing any specifics about the Borderlands series, you could lose track very quickly. Somewhere between development hell and the numerous director and script changes, however, he lost so much of his life that longtime fans barely recognize him. The decision to go with an original take on the story would be admirable if it didn’t destroy most of what makes the blood-soaked world of Borderlands so entertaining.
The most confusing thing is the choice of characterization. We don’t spend enough time with the actors to understand them, which makes them seem like celebrity imitations of the game characters. The relationship between Tiny Tina and Roland is completely different from the games and Lilith seems like a pale imitation of her fiery character. Respect to the actors who made the effort, especially Jack Black who, despite having to deal with an iconic video game voice, managed to find his own, entertaining version in the annoying robot CL4PTRAP. Ultimately, the characters are not served well by the story and the characters deserved a better story.
Aside from character and development issues, the scoring is another thing that I think holds the whole thing back. Longtime fans know that Borderlands is known for vulgarity, black humor, and insane firepower. While there was no shortage of gunplay and action, every hit felt like a concussion. It really felt like an episode of Power Rangers when a point-blank shot to the head results in a jerking movement or a giant axe slash causes sparks against a shirtless psychopath. It felt like there was no damage at all, not even scorching from a point-blank grenade. This one glaring detail made action scenes feel sterile and ineffective. Without any sizzle in dangerous situations, scenes would try to sell action that just wasn’t engaging to watch. Credit where credit is due, though, the environmental team did a great job. While the action made Pandora feel afraid of actual violence, the environments and props felt full of life. While the physical weapons felt like they were in the games, they were perhaps the most washed out of anything in this movie. Borderlands is known for its over-the-top amount of weapons, from talking guns to exploding guns. Almost every weapon in this movie is a standard Jakobs weapon, which doesn’t add any variety or character. To top it all off, this movie took one of the gaming industry’s most distinctive art styles and instead wiped it away in favor of realism. Ultimately, I don’t think it’s as bad as some people make it out to be, and you can still enjoy the movie if you don’t take it too seriously. I give the Borderlands movie a 4 out of 10.
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