I’ll readily admit that I never played any of the installments in the “Borderland” videogame franchise.
And, honestly, the movie trailer just snuck up on me to the point where I just shrugged and decided to give it a watch due to the leading cast members.
To cap that all off and make a long story short - I know none of the storyline, lore, or mechanics of the games but hoped for something passable last week.
Overall, things were going well until the last 30-40 minutes of the flick where everything was rushed to cap off the story.
I enjoyed the soundtrack, graphics, and cast up until that point – and for a game series rated “Mature,” I was hoping for something a bit wilder on the big screen.
Borderlands is a 2024 American science fiction action comedy film co-written and directed by Eli Roth, based on the video game series developed by Gearbox Software.
It stars Cate Blanchett with an ensemble cast featuring Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Édgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Clocking in at 102 minutes long, the movie is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language, and some suggestive material.
On a space station in the distant future, rogue Atlas soldier Roland (Hart) kidnaps teenager Tiny Tina (Greenblatt) with the help of Krieg (Munteanu) - a “Psycho” who was institutionalized in the same facility before hiding out on a planet called Pandora.
Meanwhile, on another planet, bounty hunter Lilith (Blanchett) is contacted by corporate magnate Atlas (Ramirez) to rescue his daughter Tina.
Lilith returns to her home planet - Pandora - for the first time since she was a child.
With the help of Claptrap (Black) - a robot that was mysteriously programmed to wait for her on Pandora - she soon locates Tina.
After realizing that Atlas wants his daughter back against her will, Lilith teams up with Roland and Krieg when they are attacked by Atlas’ private army known as the Crimson Lance.
Lilith is informed that Tina was genetically engineered with biological material from the Eridians, the ancient race that once inhabited Pandora.
Unfortunately for Tina, that means that Atlas believes only she can open the Vault where the secrets of the lost civilization’s advanced technology are kept.
With the help of Lilith’s long-ago foster mother Dr. Patricia Tannis (Curtis) they locate the key to open the Vault in an underground maze occupied by a tribe of Psychos.
They manage to escape the Psychos and get the key to the surface.
However, the story is far from over by then because they still have to find the vault and open it before Atlas finds them.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but, I think this might be on my list for the “Top 5 Worst Movies of 2024.”
Still, I can wholeheartedly recommend that if you’re a fan of the videogames then you’ll probably hate this film, too.
And, if you have no idea about the games or care too much for a story with your science fiction action flick then it could be semi-enjoyable for teens and older cinephiles.
