For readers who may not know, the Borderlands video game franchise has a huge fan base, and according to LEVVVEL, the series has sold over 77 million copies. The video games are known for their wit, violence, chaos, humor, and satirical portrayal of, well, pretty much everything.

But the movie Borderlands has absolutely none of these qualities. Every part of the movie feels contrived, from the acting to the script. IGN – known for giving even the worst movies a 5 or better – ripped Borderlands to shreds in its review, giving it a 3 out of 10. This is the common theme among most critics right now.

That’s just the way it is: Video game adaptations are consistently poorly made – whether it’s films like 1997’s “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” or 2008’s “Max Payne” – and unfortunately, “Borderlands” is no exception.

As for the script, it feels like Borderlands was written in just a few hours. The movie could have easily taken the plot of the first game and brought in the writers who worked on that project to adapt it into a movie. Instead, they blew a very marketable opportunity.

So why would a company insist on pumping out such garbage instead of actually making an effort to respond to what fans want?

The only possible explanation for their behavior is that they focused all their efforts on making a film that would appeal to the masses and forgot who their real target audience is.

Borderlands ignored its own target audience in the hope of winning favor with a larger audience. The right way to make a film is to find your audience – know exactly who they are – and make exactly what they want to see.

In the case of Borderlands, all they had to do was make their fans happy. If they did that, their fans would have told their friends and family what a great movie it was, and they would have reached the larger audience they were hoping for. Word of mouth is the most valuable asset you can give an art form.

Even looking for positive aspects of the film becomes a torture. Even if you don’t want to be too picky as a fan of the games, you can still leave the cinema feeling like you’ve wasted both your time and your money.

The characters are poorly written and do not take into account the source material, and the actors/actresses who play them have no chemistry with each other. Every performance is unimaginative and lacks any emotion. None of the jokes are engaging, and overall the humor is forced and unconvincing.

The cast is incredibly star-studded. Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Jaime Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart, Ariana Greenblatt, Edgar Ramirez, and Gina Gershon are all in it. Many fans of the show complained that the ages of the characters didn’t match the ages of the cast, but even if you ignore that fact, the actors playing these characters just aren’t believable.

This is entirely due to the script and dialogue and has nothing to do with the talent of these professionals. With the exception of Krieg – played by Florian Munteanu – who, just like in the game, only spouts “psycho” nonsense. However, his entire subplot is missing and therefore there is no emotional connection to the character.

The soundtrack is one of the positive aspects of the film; however, the major battles are often accompanied by licensed music or original music. These pieces set the tone well.

On the other hand, the soundtrack is pretty much the only thing that sets the tone for a fight, as the fights themselves are lacking. There is no risk; you never feel like any of the characters are in danger or worth investing in emotionally.

Another positive aspect of the film is that it does a good job of capturing the atmosphere of the games – at times. While much of the film feels claustrophobic, certain environments feel similar and authentic to the games, but these moments are few and far between.

Borderlands tries too hard to tell an emotional story, forgetting that the satirical comedy of video games and their aimless violence, coupled with the games’ awareness of these core characteristics, is what made them great.

Nobody played the video games for their heart-wrenching, emotional plots. We played them for their looter-shooter style, and stuck with them because the writing that accompanied that basic game mechanic was good enough to keep audiences interested in the storylines of their favorite characters.

The Borderlands video games are also known for being incredibly violent and adult. The Borderlands movie tries way too hard to adhere to its “family-friendly” PG-13 rating, which definitely hurts the experience. Movies should take a leaf out of the book from films like Deadpool & Wolverine, which showed audiences that an R-rated comedy can still break box office records as long as it’s done right.

Currently, Borderlands is a huge flop at the box office. The Direct said the film grossed $10.3 million worldwide against a reported budget of $115 million. This flop should be a massive warning sign for any film studio even considering making a movie adaptation of a video game. TV series like The Last of Us are a perfect example of a successful adaptation, while Borderlands is a perfect example of what happens when you disappoint fans.

An all-star cast and a big budget can only take you so far. We can only hope that movie studios realize what a failure Borderlands ultimately was and start paying attention to what they’re doing the next time they consider a video game adaptation.

If you really want to see this movie, wait until it’s available to stream. Or watch the trailer, which basically contains the entire movie.

Fans of the series may want to skip watching this movie and pretend Borderlands never happened. Newcomers to the series may enjoy some parts of the movie. While it’s not the worst thing ever made, it shouldn’t influence your decision if you’ve already considered trying the game. You should still try the game – it’s much better.