Borderlands Movie: Critics are Not Pleased with the Video Game Adaptation
You may have been excited for the movie adaptation of the game franchise, Borderlands! But critics are not too thrilled about the movie's debut on Rotten Tomatoes! A massive zero percent rating (that's right, zero out of 100!), with an impressive 23 reviews to date! This ain't good. Let's see if it picks up steam. And remember, this was all ahead of the release in August 2023, so yikes, that was a whole lot of ouch! This score has the potential to improve as more critics see it, but this certainly isn't how a movie launch typically goes! We know a " Rotten Tomatoes score" does have a history of affecting the film's performance at the box office so, maybe those box-office predictions are about to be a little less rosy now that the early critic reviews are dropping! We'll have to wait and see, but this sure is a lot of drama for an adaptation.
We have some stellar actors on board; Cate Blanchett plays Lilith (the one we can only assume gets her due as the top actor), there's Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jack Black as the wacky, sometimes creepy scientist. This whole ensemble cast, it had a good chance to be pretty cool, but, apparently not!
Borderlands Review: Why Did The Critics Give it Such a Low Score?
Remember that there are actually a lot of great video game Movies. Like The Last of Us, Sonic The Hedgehog, and even The Super Mario Bros. Movie proved that games and films can co-exist! But when it comes to Borderlands, critics seemed to feel like they got that dreaded "video game curse", meaning it just couldn't do the original story justice, though the star-studded cast didn't help. The film seems like a blend of random, unimpressive action scenes. A common gripe is how everyone feels about those “unlikable” characters, which is wild considering it’s a movie based on the game and has all that unlikable chaos and excitement to match.
One critic actually compared Borderlands to an awful treatment of the original story – a blasphemy if there ever was one. A few others didn’t go so far, and offered that the movie had the "potential" to work but the PG-13 rating got in the way. And that is where a whole bunch of discussion has popped up! You can't please everyone!
Borderlands Cast: Where’s the Buzz?
What's truly surprising is the number of amazing actors in this movie. Cate Blanchett who did an incredible job as the Slaughterhouse-Five actress? Well, she might have been the best, according to reviewers, so that’s good news for everyone who’s into this film! It could also have been the way all the main roles were portrayed because of all those strange quirks the film tried to adapt from the games, and those quirky, sometimes out-there personalities.
But the biggest bummer for movie fans might be that all these well-known actors in those weird roles never seemed to work. Critics are arguing the story’s cast is "too crowded." This creates an inability to actually care for any specific character. The story doesn't give the characters any space to breathe, to truly become that hero or that villain – and maybe this was just part of the video game world. You can't always expect to be super focused!
Will The Audience Enjoy The Borderlands Movie, Regardless of the Critics’ Reception?
Well, there’s not much in terms of reviews yet for those who watch the movie at home but here’s the big takeaway - Borderlands is trying to adapt a pretty wildly unique game universe that doesn't shy away from action, guns, and even darker themes. Some viewers have said that they actually loved those weird moments from the game and appreciated that the movie stayed true. But is this the way to make people fall in love with the world of Borderlands on the big screen, or is it too much of a gamble to try to directly copy every element of a game that’s not really a "cinematic experience" ?
If critics aren't pleased, it is highly unlikely this movie will become some mega-hit at the box office and could just be one of those films people talk about as the ones you really want to watch to be able to talk about the one they watched to tell you about how terrible it was.
Fans Still Might Enjoy Borderlands
When it comes to movie adaptations, things don't always go as planned, especially if they try too hard. The story doesn't translate to the screen so well. But just because the critics have shared their bad reviews doesn't mean this movie is doomed! There is the hope for everyone who is interested! Maybe it'll end up being a “so bad, it's good" movie – the kind that people will remember as one they laughed their butts off at or those who are into the action of video game Movies, it could become one of those things you watch as a game-playing enthusiast. I mean, some people enjoy the strange and bizarre, maybe you can too!
Even if you are in that group who will enjoy it, we're about to see how much this Rotten Tomatoes score will affect Borderlands , especially in that movie-going space that was intended to kickstart the whole thing.
