Borderlands (2024) | Film Review
Release Date: August 9, 2024
Distributed By: Lionsgate
Director(s): Eli Roth
Writer(s): Eli Roth
Cast: Kevin Hart, Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Black, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Bobby Lee, Janina Gavankar, Gina Gershon
Just a day or two before release, Borderlands opened up on Rotten Tomatoes to a whopping 0% critic score. 24 hours later, with more reviews to follow, the film went up to 6%. As of this writing at 6:32PM on Saturday August 10th, 2024, it now sits at a 10% Critic Score and 51% Audience Score. While I think the critic impressions are a bit harsh (though not entirely baseless), the audience score is a lot more suitable when gauging just what this film as a package brings to the screen.
Borderlands by no means is this disastrous film as I was led to believe before going to see it. I really try to stay away from film reviews before I go see one to have no preconceived notion, influence of opinion other than my own, or what a trailer is trying to tell me prior to the viewing experience, but the discourse was so loud here that it was harder to avoid than any Deadpool & Wolverine spoiler. Maybe it's because I went in with such low expectations that I walked away somewhat pleased because the bar was set so low, but it was far from good. Credit where credit is due, however, this was much better than the fan-favorite memes of Madame Web and Morbius. but that could mean anything depending on your feelings about them (though there's no denying Madame Web was an absolute train-wreck).
What did that mean for me, though? While I absolutely hated Madame Web with a passion and wanted a refund despite having seen it for free, Morbius, to me, also wasn't this horrendous level of filmmaking that I was led to believe. Don't get me wrong: It was bad, but it was at least one of those "so bad it's good" situations that it didn't feel like a complete waste of time, despite the generic nature of the movie and the continuous feel of another throwaway Sony production to keep licenses and IPs available.
Borderlands was actually a lot of fun, though I'd be lying if I said I didn't think I was walking into an absolute disaster within its first fifteen minutes as the writing was trash and incredibly shallow (this never improved). Character development is next to non-existent, and there were maybe three or four scenes here that were clearly meant to be heartfelt and somewhat emotional that just simply didn't stick the landing thanks to absolutely no attachment to the characters or the situation they were in. The whole "it feels like Guardians of the Galaxy" mantra going around to describe the film pre-release just didn't grab on either, to me instead feeling more like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle meets The Mummy sprinkled with some Zombieland. No spoilers, but there's one particular scene that's meant to feel heroic for a particular character about 3/4ths of the way through the movie as they're all being chased after an almost endless amount of psychos, but one decides to fall back to help rewire a mechanism while the others escape, and it's done in a way (with slow-motion, music, and all) that's clearly meant to look and feel somber and epic. yet... it just doesn't. You simply don't care.
The sequences throughout the film were fun, however, and most importantly, despite its less-than-ideal narrative, writing, and acting, I never once felt bored. I will admit, though - and this is bizarre to say for a film that you're watching IN THEATERS instead of on-the-whim on a streaming service - but I do feel like Borderlands is actually stronger as a background movie. You know, those movies that you put on while you're doing other tasks around the house; cleaning, gaming, cooking, whatever. I think it's one of those movies that you appreciate more by not having to pay as much attention to it because a lot of it is mindless and meant to be more of a fun spectacle—an adventure of sorts where the destination is irrelevant. Almost like a "forget it, let's drive" moment with your friends with not a care in the world of where you're going, just that you're together, listening to some good music, and cracking jokes. It's that sort of feel with Borderlands, and that won't be for everyone, but that's okay.
There were some complaints around the casting decisions as well going into this, and I found it to be just fine. Could there have been better choices? Possibly. There were certainly some characters that I felt could've been fleshed out more that I think would've benefited greatly from another actor or actress, but overall, I didn't have a problem with it. I felt Cate Blanchett, in particular, looked FANTASTIC since she's the type to slay and only slay, and that is no different here as Lilith, who is also a bad MF in the games. Not a single frame was wasted when Cate Blanchett was on screen as Lilith, and I think we live in a better society for it. Bless her soul, though, because Cate Blanchett really carried the weight of this film on her shoulders since everyone else really didn't give a damn. She tried her best with the material she was given, but everyone else felt like they had little to no motivation and wanted to get it (and their check) finished and over with.
