The Borderlands movie has been released in cinemas recently, and we’ve watched the film (so that you don’t have to). Let me start by saying that I have no real knowledge of the original video games that this movie is based on.
The Borderlands video games never really grabbed me. The thing is, I know that they were incredibly popular. I had many friends and family members who really got into the Gearbox Software video games. They, on the whole, loved them, and I was excited to see this new movie adaptation of the Borderlands game.
However, when I saw the cast and the director, I was really puzzled. The movie stars the likes of Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, and Jamie Lee Curtis. It’s directed by Eli Roth, whose career behind the camera is just incredibly odd.
Eli Roth’s Borderlands is a complete mess of a movie
Credit: Lionsgate
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Roth’s career spans from making some of the most disgusting horror films ever made, like the Hostel movies, to Cabin Fever (a really good horror film he made in 2002) and 2018’s family adventure film, The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
He also starred in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds! Honestly, he’s had a very interesting career, but I do wonder about his abilities behind the camera. I think he’s shown a lot of promise and flair over the years, and I was a bit surprised that he ended up making such an uninspired movie with this Borderlands film.
While watching the film, I kept thinking about why this was just so boring. It feels a lot like a film that would have been made in the early 2000s. It’s got a really generic plot, some incredibly shoddy visuals, and some rather sketchy acting from some of the best actors working in Hollywood today.
Why did Cate Blanchett say “yes” to this movie…?
Credit: Lionsgate
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I do not understand why an actor of the calibre of Cate Blanchett would agree to star in this picture. Kevin Hart and Jack Black saying yes I can understand—they fit this sort of film. I can even understand why Jamie Lee Curtis might say yes.
I have to say, I thought she was terrible in this movie. She plays a ‘scientist’ who really feels like she belongs on the set of The Big Bang Theory. Her character is really annoying and just poorly written and poorly acted.
Borderlands won’t do well at the box office
Credit: Lionsgate
READ MORE: Eli Roth Is Directing A Borderlands Movie
The film, ultimately, is a complete mess. It’s messy, ugly, uninspired, sloppy, and just plain poor. That sounds harsh, and it probably is, but I really got nothing out of it. I wasn’t entertained. I wasn’t engaged and just wanted the film to end. And then it did.
It’s no surprise that the film has been doing so poorly at the box office. The screening I attended was pretty much empty, apart from three other people who clearly weren’t enjoying themselves.
I feel bad giving the film such a bad review because every movie that sees the light of day is a mini-miracle. But this film is bad, and I’m surprised it was made. There won’t be a sequel, and Lionsgate is just going to have to accept its losses with this one—and there will be pretty sizeable losses.
