Borderlands

 

    I have never played the video game this film is based on so I can't make a honest comparison but as a stand alone film, it's a bit of a mess. It's a mash-up of "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Star Wars", and "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" but not in a good way.

    The cast was intriguing to me, especially Cate Blanchett as Lilith. Maybe Ms. Blanchett thought it would be fun do to a sci-fi fantasy film or maybe she didn't read the script beforehand, but either way, she's too fine an actor to be slumming in this film. Kevin Hart, while a terrific comedian, plays a more serious role as Roland, and is totally miscast. Jack Black voices "Claptrap" the robot with his voice an octave higher than usual and almost unrecognizable. His jokes fall flat. Jamie Lee Curtis is Tannis with not much to do except fill in plot holes.

    The film also features Edgar Ramirez as the villain "Atlas", Arianna Greenblatt as "Tiny Tina",  Florian Munteanu as "Krieg", a mountain of a man with little dialog but many muscles, and Gina Gershon as "Moxxi", chewing the scenery as a bar owner.

    Seems like a solid cast but director Eli Roth (also one of the writers) underutilizes all their talent and only shows a flair for the action sequences (of which there are plenty). Known for his "R" rated violent horror films, he tones things down quite a bit with almost no blood to be seen amidst all the fighting. 

     Even in IMAX, the film is a letdown (just loud and chaotic) and only the gamers might find it appealing if it's at all accurate to the game.