As the movie adaption of the video game Borderlands finally gears up to hit theaters, the critical reception has been shocking, with the film sitting at an incredibly low 10% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 29 on Metacritic. Surprisingly, in an age where video game adaptions are proving to be big business, including titles such as The Last of Us and Super Mario Brothers Movie, Borderlands has proven to be something of a complete derailment of the surge in popular adaptations. Because of this lackluster reception, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick is urging audiences to reserve judgment and give the movie a fair chance.
The Borderlands movie, directed by Eli Roth and featuring a star-studded cast which includes Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart and Jamie Lee Curtis, was highly anticipated by both fans of the franchise and general moviegoers. However, the initial reviews from critics suggest that the film may not live up to its expectations.
Borderlands
2.5/5
Based on the video game franchise, Borderlands is a sci-fi action-comedy film that follows Cate Blanchett as Lilith, a treasure hunter who returns to her home planet, Pandora, to find a tycoon’s missing daughter. Together with a group of unlikely allies, such as a soldier, a teenaged demolitions expert, a wise-cracking robot, and an eccentric scientist, the group will work together to save the girl – all while learning to deal with each other’s unyielding quirks.
- Release Date
- August 9, 2024
- Director
- Eli Roth
- Runtime
- 102 min
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Studio
- Lionsgate
- Characters By
- The Video Game Borderlands created by Gearbox Software and published by 2K
- Cinematographer
- Rogier Stoffers, ASC, NSC
- Producer
- Ari Arad, p.g.a., Avi Arad, Erik Feig
- Production Company
- In association with Media Capital Technologies, an Arad / Picturestart Production, a Gearbox Studios / 2K Production.
The Borderlands franchise is known for its dark humor, chaotic action and colorful (in personality and appearance) characters. It has been a staple of the modern gaming landscape for years. That success seems to have not transferred over to the film, but Zelnick still sounds optimistic, emphasizing the hard work that went into the production. In an interview with IGN Zelnick said,
“Let’s give the film a chance. A lot of people worked really hard on it. The underlying intellectual property is phenomenal, the cast is amazing, I think the look and feel is really terrific. So let’s see what audiences have to say.”
Who Stands To Lose if Borderlands is a Flop?
Despite how dire the future of this franchise actually looks, Zelnick made it clear how the performance will affect the future of the franchise.
“The performance of the film wouldn’t have a financial impact on us or on the franchise one way or another.”
Zelnick also spoke about the broader topic of video game adaptions in Hollywood. He told IGN that Take-Two is being “extremely selective” when it comes to adapting its games into films, only moving forward with projects that have the full enthusiasm and creative backing of the teams involved.
Related
Does the Borderlands Movie Follow the Story of the Games?
Borderlands, the upcoming action-adventure film seems to be vastly distinct from the original video games. Does it follow the same plot?
We might already be seeing this ideology with the Bioshock film that is coming out of Netflix. The film has been stuck in development hell for some time and just recently saw its budget cut. It still seems to be going through with the production, but audiences can already tell that the gaming industry is feeling apprehensive about which projects can be successfully adapted into live action and which need to stay within the medium of video games. Not everything can be The Last of Us, but they might be able to be some kind of fun romp like Sonic.
It is worth noting that the Borderlands franchise was created and owned by Gearbox which was recently acquired by Take-Two. The film was produced in collaboration with Gearbox and 2K but as Zelnick pointed out, there aren’t any big financial stakes for Take-Two.