Cate Blanchett heads the star cast in a video game series adaptation of Borderlands which shall please broadminded enthusiasts and deserveingly be panned by sophisticated reviewers. Fans of the much-loved, first-person looter-shooter and its hordes of devoted fans are not about to be let down. If there are quirky instances from the games, the outlandish cast is stable and proceeds to the errand of treasure hunting with a twist or two. Eli Roth, a known purveyor of gore and horror, stays away from R-rated carnage every few minutes to keep the action mainly PG13 and commercially viable. There are no exposed wounds or geysering blood from ruptured blood vessels in this affair.
The maestro of the screen holds strong to her winning streak, so shocking up till now Matilda corrects her jealousy for the radiantly-haired and sassy Holy booty shakin’ Lillith – the most dreaded bounty hunter in the known universe, and a former resident of Pandora wasteland. Misguided “Vault hunters” or, people, who seek legendary Eridian “Vaults” on the pandemonium encrusted planet Milo do so in vain, and for what – the most terrifying weapons and technology of the lost advanced race of Eridians. Lilith is drinking on a planet which though still capable of dubious pleasure is not the empty fusion of cargo and barren images Asari aew as boring as space. Lilith’s drinking on another planet was inconvenient suffice as goons from the Atlas Corporation saw through it. After dutifully stamping on courier employees, the namesake CEO makes her mouth-watering offers. He will nail Lilith for a lot of money to find his runaway daughter, Tiny Tina.
After an unanticipated act of treachery, Atlas is compelled to make use of the services of Lilith. Roland (Kevin Hart), who was once part of the Atlas regime, helped save Tiny Tina and her large protector ‘psycho’ Krieg (Florian Munteanu) who had also been captured previously. However, he took her to Pandora and disappeared. There is the familiar welcoming committee for Lilith upon her return to her home base. She recalls seeing her mother (Haley Bennett) seize and then die and as a child, her being reluctant to leave Pandora under the will of an Undine fanatic Dr. Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis). In her former apartment, there is an annoying, one-wheeled helper. Claptrap (Jack Black), however, is not pleased with being Lilith’s maid. He understands the mission to seek Tiny Tina is simply a one way trip with no return.
Looking at the gameplay, Borderlands follows closely the RPG co-op it was made after. As expected, after the revelation of the dark truth concerning Atlas’ picture-loving, bomb-carrying daughter, Lilith and Claptrap do team up with Roland, Tina, and Krieg. This comes relatively early in the first act after breezy exposition designed to setup larger action set pieces. Roth, who has an equal hand in the writing and directing of the film, brings the characters to chase different objectives with deadly mercenaries, monsters, and Atlas’ thugs at their tails. In a pleasant surprise, he eases off the pedal after a tepid first act and clips come together in a second act that is better than anticipated.
The key to Borderlands being something more than another mindless video game adaptation lies among the stars. The venerable adult cast and talented Greenblatt, who is good in Barbie and in a limited series Ahsoka Star Wars, work well together. Lilith and Roland are people (even, they are increased-killers). They adore and take care of interesting but hard Tiny Tina in her insanity. In particular, Lilith understands what it is to be a child and all alone in a world full of ferocious monsters and having to fight. The drawback here however is that what Tiny Tina does not know is that Lilith is a double agent working for Atlas. Roth, however, makes the plausible defection bet when this information is eventually disclosed. Let’s just say, that Tiny Tina does not handle it well.
However, the same cannot be said for the last act, where it is critical to reveal the rest of the story. In contrast, or rather in absolute opposition, Roth suffers excessively with his violent torrential action sequences in at least the last quarter of the Global’s time at hand. Of course, the puns aside, the unit offers traditional shootouts while in other cases roof dives are replaced by extra means of combat as every figurative ‘asymmetrical warfare’ involves an extra measure of blunt violence. Munteanu who plays Krieg is super scary especially when it comes to toys as he bounces off the baddies like he is turning them into pretzels. The gore itself, while still classified to be violence, is not too graphic or disturbing.
The most remarkable thing about this film is the absence of even the slightest hint that there are any wounds or bloody strobes in every shot. The producers calculated to make an economic decision on the picture not carrying an R rating so that the younger children who also love the games would go and see the film. Life is not worth living in anguish over Roth’s impeccably yet portrayingly protruded wanton brutality suffering fans anticipating watching torture and horrific body mutilation.
Other than that, however, there is something that has been somewhat haunting ‘that’ means Borderlands. The Western sensibility that prevailed for the first hour is replaced with the tourist attitude towards the latter – in essence, tourists rather than stalkers. Lifting this veil of intrigue however fails to achieve the expectation when once all was going rather fast within the scenes. One common problem here is that the writer has tried to overanalyze, resulting in the movie becoming rather boring with unnecessary content. I think to be, there should have appreciated the action and beauty even unto the end credits.
Borderlands is a summer blockbuster film aimed at the gaming population. It is meant to be taken in that way. One should never underestimate the initial negative impressions. This is not the English period drama starring Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth. Obviously, this actress enjoys playing such a ridiculous role, and many audience members will likely feel the same.
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