Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: 10/22/2024
Rating: PG-13
Film Grade: C-
The Story: On a ship orbiting the remote planet of Pandora, a young girl is rescued (or is she kidnapped?) by a soldier named Roland. Joining the escape is Krieg, as psychotic criminal.
On another planet, we find bounty hunter Lilith, who is contacted by the young girl’s father. He’ll pay her handsomely if she returns his daughter. Lilith accepts the offer and heads off to Pandora, her childhood home.
My Take: As a fan of the games, I was excited when this movie was first announced. It was to be directed by Eli Roth, who should have been the perfect person to bring it to the screen. The games are filled with violence, balanced by a an absolutely wicked sense of humor. For example, one of the game’s numerous challenges is taking down tribes of psychotic cannibals. One of the weapon types available dispenses fire ammo to set your adversary ablaze. So, if you’re able to kill one of the psychos with it, you might hear him say, “I smell delicious!” as he disintegrates into cinder at your feet. Sick and crude? Absolutely. Absurd and clever? You bet. The entire game is filled with that kind of outrageous, but sharp, gallows humor. Given that Roth deals effortlessly in that territory, he seemed like a natural fit.
Then, some of the casting was announced. Kevin Hart as the stalwart, straightforward soldier, Roland? Fifty-something-year-old, dramatic actress Cate Blanchett as the siren Lilith? Jack Black as the comedically annoying sidekick, Claptrap? None of these felt right for the game. As it turns out, they’re hit and miss. Kevin Hart plays it mostly straight, making one wonder why they picked a comedian for the role. Blanchett was OK as Lilith, performing the action scenes admirably for her age. Black was a letdown compared to either of the games’ two original voice actors. This adds to the myriad questions about the movie, since I’m sure these salaries were outsized compared to any potential audience they could have drawn.
Rounding out the main cast is Jamie Lee Curtis as scientist Tannis, a role that doesn’t fit her at all. While she should be a neurotic, uptight career woman with zero people skills, Curtis approaches it as an overly broad parody. Tiny Tina should be a ball of frantic energy with a particular penchant for explosive mayhem, but Roth has Ariana Greenblatt play her soft, sweet, and subdued. Gina Gershon would have been perfect for the entertainment entrepreneur and sex kitten, Moxxi, had this been filmed 20 years ago. On the plus side, Benjamin Byron Davis absolutely nails the character of Marcus, arms dealer and tour bus driver on Pandora.
The script is wildly uneven. While there are segments that follow the feel and history of the games, others contradict and alter the story. Some of this is necessary, of course, but much of what they’ve discarded defines the game. The Psychos of the game are seen, but their bizarre, irrelevant lines of dialog are mostly missing, replaced with generic grunting and shouting. Constantly upgrading weaponry, utilizing various forms of damage to take advantages of the enemies’ weaknesses, are integral to survival in the game. While the guns on screen may look different, they predominately shoot regular bullets. There’s one instance of fire, but no electrical or acid versions. The planet should be ravaged by roaming hordes of deadly creatures, but they’re only glimpsed or referenced, never used as ever-present threats. Eccentric characters are missing completely. Maybe these were left for planned sequels?
OK, that was all directed toward fans of the game, how about a normal audience? The film is easily accessible for the uninitiated; no prior knowledge is needed. If anything, the movie is aimed too broadly. Those snappy bits of dark dialog are discarded for silly slapstick moments that go on for too long. It feels like the film was watered-down in an attempt to bring in a general audience. After primary filming, reshoots were handed over to Tim Miller, of the first Deadpool movie fame, which may be the reason for the generally incongruitous feel.
Visuals: I really liked the design of the movie. It mostly reflects the look of the game, which itself was inspired by comic book art. Despite the grimy nature of the desolate Pandora, there’s still a big, bold look to the sets and props. On the other hand, my wife didn’t particularly care for it, turning to me at one point and asking if it was supposed to look like that. What worked less for me were the costume designs. While they were styled after the game, they had a new, plasticky freshness to them that felt fake and off.
The movie features lots of CGI, some of which look good, but other shots look both unfinished and clunky. This is evident in some of the action scenes involving characters falling or sliding, where the movement doesn’t seem natural. Like many of today’s films, most of the fighting is done with closeups, quick cuts, and plentiful camera movements, which obscures what’s happening.
Comparing the Blu-ray to the 4K disc, there is a minor uptick in detail on the 4K. One example could be seen in a hanging chain that kind of shimmers on the Blu-ray but remains solid on the 4K version. There are also some instances where the HDR advantage comes through, but it’s not plentiful. I thought colors looked better on the 4K disc, but the Blu-ray is no slouch.
Audio: Both the Blu-ray and 4K discs come with an Atmos soundtrack (thanks, Lionsgate!), but it’s nothing special. Considering the amount of action, vehicles, weapons, and explosions, you might expect an audio feast. Instead, it has a sameness to it without distinguishing features to set it apart from any other movie. That’s a missed opportunity, considering how varied the sound of the weapons could have been, but we mostly hear plain old guns shooting plain old bullets, with little to distinguish them.
Listening to just the tops and wides, there was some odd behavior with Cate Blanchett’s narration where it phases in and out, randomly. The other speakers keep the image somewhat stable, but it almost sounds like it was done using automation rather than being intentional.
The musical score is in keeping with the game, with some guitar riffs bringing back memories of exploring the foreign planet. Dialog is clear, other than that of the Psycho Kreig, which may have been intentional since he’s masked.
Special Features: Worth watching for fans of the game and films. There’s typical behind the scenes footage of the actors, director, and production people talking about filming.
- Borderlands – From Game to Screen
- Meet the Team
- All Aboard the Death Choochoo
- Bringing Borderlands to the Screen
- Badonkadonk Time
- Fashion and Action on Pandora
- High Tech Hellscapes
Final Verdict: The film isn’t great, but I didn’t think it was as bad as the box office or word of mouth might have suggested. It had to be an uphill battle just to get it made. The game’s extremely violent nature practically dictates that it be slapped with an R rating, but that makes it a tough sell to a general audience. On the other hand, watering it down to a PG-13 rating means sacrificing the edgy tone of the game. In the end, it feels like they tried to find a balance, but ended up missing both.
Fans of the game will like seeing some of what shows up on screen, but too much of it is just window dressing. There’s enough detail packed into it that I’m sure additional watches will pick up on things that couldn’t be absorbed on the first viewing. But much of what makes up the game is only present on a surface level, which is a shame, especially since the returns have likely guaranteed that we won’t see any more of this.
For non-fans, there’s a sci-fi story that has interesting visuals, some broad humor, and lots of action. My wife has never played the game and ended up enjoying it a little more than I did. Neither of us regretted watching it, but felt there was too much missing potential to recommend it to everyone. But if any of this has raised your curiosity, it’s worth checking out.
Fun Fact: As part of the extras, we see Borderlands creator, Randy Pitchford as Crazy Earl, a character he voiced in the games. The character didn’t make it into the movie, along with others that were filmed, but ended up missing. Maybe someday we’ll see an unrated director’s cut, a la Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
My Review System:JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup
2 Replies
4888 Views