Just when shows like HBO’s Last of Us and Prime Video’s Fallout made us think that we were finally entering an era where video games actually translated into good live action material, Borderlands comes along and blows that hope to smithereens (along with several people and things).
Tagged as an action comedy, Borderlands is too committed to the action — even if it is completely bloodless because of the PG rating — and too short on the comedy. Not a surprise, given that the director and co-writer is horror specialist Eli Roth. But definitely a waste given the cast of actors, with incredible comic talents like Kevin Hart and Jack Black.
What this Cate Blanchett-starrer (what is an Oscar winner doing in a movie like this!) is is a mishmash of many movies new and old — Star Wars, Mad Max, Dune, Guardians of the Galaxy, Suicide Squad… well, you get the drift.
Blanchett’s character Lilith is a space-travelling bounty hunter who is forced into looking for the missing daughter, Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), of an evil corporation boss Atlas (Edgar Ramirez) on the “shithole” planet of Pandora (no, not the beautiful Avatar one; this one belongs in Mad Max). Decked in slinky leather and toting guns, Blanchett is the Borderlands version of the Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy. Her robot companion Claptrap (Jack Black) is an annoying and not very funny (despite being programmed for humour) version of C3PO in R2D2’s body (these guys are from Star Wars).
Among the ragtag group Lilith gathers is a hulking brute called Krieg (Florian Munteanu) who delivers cheesy lines like “It’s time to bleed” who will remind you of Drax (Guardians of the Galaxy); an ace soldier, Roland (Hart), just like Rick Flag (Suicide Squad); and hyped-up demolitionist Tiny Tina, who will call to mind Harley Quinn and has an unending supply of explosives somewhere on her. Except all of them are like poor versions of the ones they are copying, just like the movie itself.
And that is a shame because the actors try their best, but uninspiring dialogues and sketchy character arcs make rooting for anyone very difficult. Lilith has mommy issues but her motherly feelings for Tina come out of nowhere. She has a secret, but it comes out of nowhere (two instances of blink-and-you-miss doesn’t count). Roland has mad skills but deserts the Crimson Lance (Atlas’s private army) to help Tina. Where does he come from and why? Halfway through, Jamie Lee Curtis joins the party (what is yet another Oscar-winner doing in this movie?) as an eccentric scientist with some history with Lilith. Enough to warrant some emotion but clearly not enough to warrant any explanation.
It is sad that Blanchett’s lead role in an actioner comes in a vehicle like this (she had and was so much better in Thor: Ragnarok). One that will, hopefully, be forgotten soon.
