After The Last of Us and Fallout series, it seemed that Hollywood finally figured out how to adapt a video game without offending all the gamers of the world. However, it would be premature to celebrate. The film adaptation of the sci-fi shooter Borderlands, which opens in theaters on Thursday, is a throwback to the days when games were made with interchangeable, disposable action figures.
One of the authors of the series version of The Last of Us was the American screenwriter Craig Mazin. It was he who was approached by the representatives of the studio Lionsgate and the development company Gearbox Software, whether he would adapt Borderlands.
The bestselling action game in which you move through an open post-apocalyptic world, collect items and improve your avatar’s skills, but it is more loaded with black humor and grotesque violence than an original plot. The current film, whose plot consists of a series of weakly executed action sequences, unfortunately looks like that.
But you can’t blame Mazin for being simple-minded. He prudently backed out of the project and asked that his name not even appear in the headlines. In his place, the unknown and possibly non-existent Joe Crombie is credited as co-writer.
Similarly, we cannot point the finger of blame even at the director Eli Roth, whom many Slovak viewers still have not forgiven for how stereotypically he portrayed Bratislava in the horror film Hostel. He filmed the main part of Borderlands in Budapest during the height of the covid pandemic in April 2021. When additional shots needed to be completed two years later, his colleague Tim Miller stepped in for him.
Out of ideas
With a busy production history, two directors and no screenwriter, the film, like the game, mostly takes place on the planet Pandora, which resembles a giant landfill. Before it was plundered by invaders from various corners of the universe, this home of an advanced alien civilization was teeming with abundance.
Lilith, played by Cate Blanchett, returns to her home planet. | Photo: Etiquette film
Lilith, a hunter of people with a fiery orange mane who shoots first and asks questions later, also comes from here. Now he reluctantly returns to his home planet. She was convinced by a generous sum of money from a tycoon named Atlas. On Pandora, the protagonist has to find his daughter Tina. The wild teenager is found by Lilith right away. But their meeting turns into the first of the noisy action scenes.
Even though there are bazookas and exploding stuffed bunnies during it, the action is dull, predictable and technically worn out from the start. The sense of speed is mainly created by the frenetic editing, which is why the shots rarely follow each other smoothly. The special effects look unfinished. At times, the mismatch between the live actors and the digital backdrop is so noticeable that you want to ask for a refund. Although the shootouts, fights and chases are the number one attraction, the main difference is the increasing volume of the rock music. The directed ones are just as confusing and they don’t even add original ideas.
In addition, drawn-out action scenes often do not advance the plot. But maybe the problem is that there is nothing to move. After an explosive exchange, Lilith and Tina discover they have a common enemy and head to the vault that is supposed to hold Pandora’s secrets.
The heroines are joined by an experienced soldier, a muscular psychopath with a gas mask on his face, and a sarcastic robot with the voice of Jack Black, who after a while is just as annoying and unfunny as the green mascot of the electronics e-shop Alza. And that’s all. A disparate group of individuals travel through various locations and shoot bad guys who get in their way.
Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Kevin Hart as Roland, Ariana Greenblatt as Tina Tina, Florian Munteanu as Krieg and Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis. | Photo: Etiquette film
Hordes of cutthroats
Adding to the dullness is the fact that there is zero chemistry between the actors until the end and the characters are unsympathetic grumps. The more vehemently they declare about themselves how deranged they are, the more their dullness is striking. Like someone draining all the life out of Guardians of the Galaxy or Suicide Squad.
Talented actors have absolutely no idea how to make sense of characters whose actions lack deeper motivation. Even Cate Blanchett doesn’t pretend to enjoy playing the title role of Lilith. Most of the time he looks bored and doesn’t try hard to sell the played lines.
For viewers unfamiliar with the play, the two-time Australian Oscar winner will probably be the only reason to stay in the cinema until the end credits. Kevin Hart or Jamie Lee Curtis struggle with their roles even more. But given the Schlendrian tricks and narrative carelessness, one can’t blame them for how lost they look.
When the creators need to explain something, they let Lilith speak off-screen. When they want to advance the story, they introduce a new character into it, or let one of the existing ones be surprised to find out that they can teleport.
Scriptural laziness also reeks of jokes. Most of them ring hollow due to bad timing and unplayed actors. Others just leave an aftertaste of embarrassment. For example, when the heroes drive through “Piss Gully” or when Black’s robot swallows so many bullets from enemy weapons that he has to expel them through the back hole, accompanied by sounds associated with diarrhea.
Infantile humor, more suitable for a family comedy type Number 5 lives rather than an adaptation of an incorrect video game, while interspersing deadly serious moments. Sentimental music is played and the characters, who have only shown themselves so far by self-irony and killing monsters, begin to remember their deceased loved ones with emotion.
Even Cate Blanchett doesn’t pretend to enjoy playing the title role of Lilith. | Photo: Etiquette film
If we were to find a positive in those 101 minutes of tonally disparate scenes, a dozen twists, routine action and breakneck attempts at humor, it would be the design. The filmmakers managed to faithfully and in detail imitate the costumes, architecture, weapons or vehicles from the game.
Perhaps it’s old-fashioned to want more from a picture based on a popular brand. For example, a meaningful story. Maybe just cram enough game references into each scene to keep the audience distracted. But even if this is the direction in which modern big-budget films will go, as the recent Deadpool & Wolverine indicated, perhaps the resignation of the story does not necessarily mean the resignation of entertainment.
Film
Borderlands
Directed by: Eli Roth
Bontonfilm, Czech premiere on August 8.
