Big Hollywood names with a weak scenario in a beloved video game franchise.
Borderlands is a film adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name. There are four video games released, a few spin-offs, and a new game coming up in September 2025.
Yes, the elephant in the room will be addressed, but you have to keep reading.
Let’s talk facts for a second. The producers didn’t hold back on big names as the cast consists of big Hollywood names like Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Kevin Hart as Roland, Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis, and also Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, along with Florian Munteanu as Krieg, the gang’s Psycho member. And last but not least, Jack Black as Claptrap, whom we see a lot in video game film adaptations lately.
The world of Borderlands
The Borderlands video game franchise and consequently the movie take place in a space Western science fantasy universe.
We are in a distant future world, on the planet of Pandora. Colonists are hoping to build a better future by mining the planet’s natural resources. It proved that there was not much to mine, so they went after the alien technology that is supposed to be inside a place called The Vault. Things never turn out like how one would hope so, so the video game is full of action, fights and mysteries to discover.
The film adaptation is based on this universe, using the main characters as the protagonists but the plot is loosely based on the lore, so don’t expect a faithful adaptation.
In the film we see Lilith as a bounty hunter who is traveling back to her home planet, Pandora, hired to hunt a person of interest. In true Borderland fashion, things never go as planned.
The production of the film
The production design was spot on, and they did a remarkable job replicating the look and feel of it. The environment and costumes were surprisingly faithful to the aesthetics of Borderlands, capturing the unique wild-west in space style of the game.
The characters’ costumes were spot on, and the designers did Lilith’s outfit justice, so for one hour and a half, you will be rewarded with an aesthetically authentic Borderland experience.
As for other parts of the movie, like the plot, you may not be getting the same positive experience and before I dig into it, let me finally address the elephant in the room.
The cast
I like Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Lee Curtis. They are talented actors whom I enjoy and admire for their work. I was not familiar with the other actors who played Tiny Tina and Krieg, but that’s ok. I think they did their best.
Which is what I can say about all of them.
Before the release of the film, and since the first trailer was made public, there were many comments about the choice of actors for Lilith, Roland and Tannis, mainly due to their age. In the game, Roland is in his 30s, Lilith is 22 at the events of Borderlands 1 and 27 on the second installment, reaching her 30s in the third, which is the same for Tannis.
As much as I love and admire Cate Blanchett, even though she looks gorgeous, we all know she is not in her 30s.
Lilith
Cate Blanchett held the film together. Yes, I said what I said.
Cate Blanchett as Lilith did a great job, regardless of being an older Lilith than the one we know from the video games. Her story was well written and it felt like she was the magic glue that kept the gang’s dynamic together.
Tannis
Tannis is an interesting case. No one can deny that Jamie Lee Curtis is a talented actress. She is wonderful, fantastic. A star.
I got the feeling that she did her best to portray the “weird and special” Tannis the producers told her to portray but I can’t stop thinking that maybe it was a miss, or they didn’t give her much to work with. It’s a tough one to digest because I really appreciate Jamie Lee Curtis but I would have liked her to speak in her normal voice, Jamie’s voice, rather than Tannis’ voice, which is not like how she sounds in the video game. Yes, she is a weird character in the game but the choice of voice, was not a hit.
Roland
Kevin Hart as Roland was not bad. Not the Roland we know from the game, mainly due to the physique, but he did well playing an action character.
Tiny Tina
Tiny Tina. I had no previous experience of this actress. She also did a great job portraying the Tiny Tina they told her to do, but the video game character is a bit more wacky, if not borderline psycho in-game.
Claptrap
Jack Black delivered. I think he did exceptionally well. The interwebz were not happy with this choice, because why wouldn’t they have kept the original voice? Well, regardless of the reasons, which could be complicated but also summarized to “marketing”, Jack Black did Claptrap justice. He was equally annoying and stubborn as in the game, so that’s a win.
Bonus
Let me tell you my favourite character in the film. The merchant Marcus. He was brilliantly cast and the actor, Benjamin Byron Davis, portrayed him as if he was straight out of the game. The jokes, the voice, the mannerisms. All true to the real Marcus.
Is it worth watching?
To answer this, let me go through a few things first.
Could it be done with different actors, age-wise, to keep the story closer to the real lore? Yes.
Did they want to do that? No.
But, and this is a big but, if you see the film, the age difference is explained, even satirised, so it makes total sense. Yes, they deviated from the actual game lore. Not uncommon in video game film adaptations.
You may like it or not. I did. Or let me rephrase it: it made sense to me.
The real problem was the weak story.
If you want to blame something, that would have to be the scenario and maybe the directing. There was definitely room for improvement but probably the budget was already spent elsewhere.
A strong story will forgive any creative freedom in adapting a well-known lore. A compelling, captivating, well-written and well-directed film may have made the audience ignore any mistakes but a weak story is not as forgiving and it can even magnify any negative parts.
I watched the film on stream, not renting it or buying it. It’s included in Prime. I had a good time. Not a fantastic one, and not a bad one. It was good for a lazy morning watching it in bed, while enjoying my coffee.
Why you should watch it: for the look-and-feel that is remarkably close to the game. The costumes, the set, and the universe were faithfully recreated and true to the original universe.
Why you shouldn’t watch it: Lack of a captivating plot. Weak directing.