BORDERLANDS movie poster | ©2024 Lionsgate

Rating: PG-13
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Edgar Ramírez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Jack Black (voice), Janina Gavankar, Benjamin Byron Davis, Gina Gershon
Writers: Eli Roth and Joe Crombie, screen story by Eli Roth, based on the videogame BORDERLANDS created by Gearbox Software, published by 2K
Director: Eli Roth
Distributor: Lionsgate
Release Date: August 9, 2024

It seems hard to get adaptations of videogames right. It’s certainly not impossible – look no further back than THE LAST OF US – but they seem trickier to bring to film or TV than other types of source material. This may be because videogames are experiential, while films and TV are viewer-mode only.

BORDERLANDS started life in 2009, becoming one of the most popular videogames in history. It spawned 2012’s BORDERLANDS 2, 2014’s BORDERLANDS: THE PRE-SEQUEL, and 2019’s BORDERLANDS 3, along with four downloadable content games.

This reviewer is not a BORDERLANDS player, and therefore cannot attest to whether or not the movie captures its progenitor’s mood. From what can be gleaned from online synopses of the game, the new film appears to be loosely adapted from the first BORDERLANDS, retaining some of the characters, though changing a few essential natures.

We’re in the far future, where interstellar travel is the norm, but humans still seem to be the dominant lifeform. Our protagonist/narrator is the bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett). Lilith isn’t sentimental at all, but she has distinct memories of her home planet of Pandora and would rather not return there.

But then Lilith is approached for a job by wealthy industrialist Atlas (Edgar Ramírez). He wants Lilith to find his kidnapped twelve-year-old daughter, Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), who has been taken to Pandora by her abductor. Atlas says he’ll pay Lilith so much that it’s the proverbial offer that can’t be refused.

Visually, Pandora is a more colorful and populated version of the MAD MAX landscape. There are deserts and more deserts, plus buildings and towns that are rundown or completely wrecked. Wildlife includes dragon-like beasts and creatures that resemble giant sandworms.

On the human side, trouble comes from the local military, the Crimson Lance, as well as tribes of mask-wearing Psychos. Pandora is also crawling with off-world Vault Hunters, who are in search of a legendary cavern rumored to have mystical contents.

It comes as no surprise to us, and no great shock to Lilith, that she hasn’t been given the whole truth about the job.

Blanchett is one of those actors to be followed anywhere. Although she’s done plenty of genre material, Blanchett hasn’t gotten to do major kickass heroism before. We have no trouble believing Lilith’s physical prowess.

We likewise have no trouble following the plot. The script by director Eli Roth and co-writer Joe Crombie, from Roth’s screen story, makes sense once we accept the universe. Motivations seem reasonable under the circumstances. There are large threads that we comprehend from a lifetime of watching stories like this, and since various characters don’t know about X, Y, or Z, their companions can legitimately fill them in on the details.

But still, BORDERLANDS feels lacking. It’s got a good cast, including Kevin Hart, who demonstrates that he can play it straight, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the voice of Jack Black as a neurotic robot – and they convey real glee in the right places, but the overall tone wobbles.

The violence is near enough to cartoon overkill so that we don’t take it too seriously, without being so jaw-dropping that we laugh with it. Characters get their obligatory beats, but they aren’t given the kind of grace notes that affect us.

Most problematic perhaps is that the filmmakers don’t seem to want to commit to any particular attitude. They know that we know that various versions of this sort of tale already exist. They don’t want to pretend this is brand-new (which is a relief), but they don’t avail themselves of the satisfactions of the form, either. BORDERLANDS is competent, and it’s fun to look at, but it’s never especially stirring.

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