In the expansive realm of movies and TV shows inspired by video games, there are blockbusters like Sonic the Hedgehog and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, enduring franchises like Resident Evil, and critically acclaimed favorites like The Last of Us. Many of these adaptations find commercial success—even a critically panned film like Assassin’s Creed performed decently on the international stage.
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| From left: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu and Jamie Lee Curtis in 'Borderlands.' Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate |
However, some should have remained confined to the console, such as the role-playing first-person shooter game, Borderlands. Humor has never been director Eli Roth's forte, nor is the relentless barrage of gunfire, explosions, and violence in this dull and persistently unexciting sci-fi action comedy.
The real puzzle is how such a loud, empty film managed to assemble a star-studded cast, with Cate Blanchett leading the charge with just as much commitment as the material deserved. Borderlands was filmed in 2021, right before Blanchett moved on to Tár, a significant upgrade, to say the least. Reshoots in 2023 were handled by Tim Miller, as Eli Roth was busy with Thanksgiving.
To be fair, the project may have looked a bit different when Blanchett and other big names initially signed on, considering the many screenwriters it passed through. The most notable was Craig Mazin, co-creator and co-writer of The Last of Us, who reportedly chose to have his name removed from the project. The final script credit went to Roth and newcomer Joe Crombie, with some speculation that the latter might be a pseudonym.
The movie opens with a solar system screensaver, revealing that an advanced alien race, the Eridians, once ruled the galaxy. Their vast knowledge—including weapons technology—is believed to be hidden in a vault on the planet Pandora.
According to prophecy, a daughter of Pandora would eventually unlock the vault and restore order to the planet, now ravaged by wars waged by mining corporations. Pandora has become a desolate wasteland of industrial debris and toxic chemical waste, populated by lowlife scavengers, thugs, bandit gangs, vault hunters, and the oppressive Crimson Lance militia.
The planet is also home to the deadly thresher species, terrifying creatures that resemble the tentacled offspring of Godzilla and a Dune sandworm.
Blanchett takes on the role of Lilith, a steely bounty hunter with razor-sharp cheekbones, a striking red flip reminiscent of Run Lola Run (but with a comb), and a quick trigger finger ready to eliminate any threat. Reluctantly, she’s persuaded by shady corporate overlord Atlas (played by Edgar Ramirez) — or rather, a glitchy hologram of him — to journey to Pandora.
Her mission: to find Atlas' missing preteen daughter, Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt, pre-Barbie), who he claims was abducted by a member of his security team.
“It’s a shithole,” Lilith remarks upon arrival. “I should know. I was born here.” This sets the stage for plenty of bad memories and unresolved issues, though the script offers little in terms of psychological depth or real human emotion.
Despite her best efforts to ditch him, Lilith ends up saddled with Claptrap, an irritating mono-wheeled junkyard robot voiced by Jack Black, who ominously declares, “I’m programmed for humor.”
The chatty droid’s data quickly leads her to Tina, a demolition expert with a seemingly endless supply of grimy plush-toy bunnies rigged to explode. Lilith’s plan is simple: grab the girl and get out. But, as it turns out, her task is far from straightforward.
Tiny Tina is less grating than Claptrap, though she mostly made me long for Chloë Grace Moretz’s role in Kick-Ass. She’s joined forces with rogue soldier Roland (Kevin Hart) and Krieg (Florian Munteanu), a semi-literate brute in a gas mask who acts as her protector. After they stop trying to kill Lilith, this ragtag group of misfits escapes together from Commander Knox (Janina Gavankar) and her Crimson Lance goon squad.
They receive intel from Moxxi, the owner of a Sanctuary City bar whose style is best described as "sexy Mad Hatter’s tea party." Watching Gina Gershon channel Mae West in this role, with a touch of Cristal Connors, offers some moderate fun.
Next to join the team is the eccentric xenoarcheologist Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), who primarily serves to warn the group whenever trouble is imminent. However, she plays a key role by showing Lilith a painting she did as a child of the Firehawk, a flame-winged Eridian goddess, hinting at what’s to come in the final showdown.
If all this sounds like a low-budget Guardians of the Galaxy mixed with Mad Max and a dash of Star Wars, that’s exactly what it is, complete with a grungy visual aesthetic that fails to breathe much life into it.
As they’re pursued by Knox and clearly headed for a confrontation with Atlas—whose connection to Tina isn’t quite what he claimed—the fugitives move from one shootout to the next without gaining any real momentum. Some convoluted business involving the search for three vault keys adds little in terms of suspense.
Since the characters are one-dimensional—resembling little more than cartoonish gamer avatars—we never become deeply invested in their survival or their race to the vault. This also means that when solitary Lilith starts to develop maternal feelings for Tina and a bond with her makeshift family, the emotion feels mechanical and unconvincing, despite the literal fireworks.
Roth’s chaotic storytelling is so eager to rush to the next generic action scene—enhanced by Steve Jablonsky’s relentless synth and orchestral score and a plethora of subpar CGI—that there’s little room for the characters to build genuine connections.
This creates a thankless task for the actors. Blanchett seems to relish the chance to strut around in sleek leather with holsters ready for rapid gunfire. However, the role is thinly sketched, fitting into the familiar mold of tough, cynical, cool-headed female action heroes. Any hopes of recapturing the campy authority Blanchett brought to Thor: Ragnarok go unfulfilled.
Hart’s natural humor is oddly subdued, perhaps due to his dialogue being so unremarkable, and Black’s voice work is grating and lacking in comedy, exacerbated by Claptrap’s frequent bursts of song and dance.
When a comedy relies on gags like a robot getting shot and then defecating bullets, it’s clear the film is struggling. Blanchett and Black, who previously collaborated with Roth on The House with a Clock in Its Walls, shouldn’t be surprised by how poorly directed the entire cast seems here.
Longtime fans of the video game might find more to appreciate in Borderlands, but I wouldn’t bet on it. At one point, Claptrap returns to functioning after a heavy-weapon assault and asks, “I blacked out. Did something important happen?” Unfortunately, not in this movie.
