'Borderlands' movie review: Not the Game adaptation the fans wanted to see

Still from Borderlands

Film: Borderlands
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 2/5
Runtime: 102 min

A film adaptation of popular video game, "Borderlands" is a gamey, viscerally colorful, sci-fi action comedy Directed and co-written by Eli Roth. The film though does not have the excitement and uniqueness that propelled the game to its many successes. Since the first game's release in 2009, the "Borderlands" series has gone on to become one of the hottest-selling video game franchises in history. Given the content and treatment of this film though, the same may not come true for this adaptation, at the Box-office.

The games are set in a sort of sci-fi western setting, have well-defined identifiable art, mechanics that involve players in frantic first-person shooter combat, addictive action, massive arsenal of unique firepower, play that involves co-operation from three or more others, and a quirky sense of humour. In fact the movie version feels rather alien to that game construct.

This film adaptation, has precious little enjoyment to link it with the game. It fails to provide interesting enough schema to help it capture a fan following bigger than the game's following itself.

After teenage demolitions dynamo Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), daughter of a powerful figure, is kidnapped, the infamous bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett) is tasked with seeking out her whereabouts and ensuring her safe return. Lilith's search leads her from planet Prometheus to her home planet, Pandora. While there, Lilith is forced to align herself with a crew of misfits including the robot Claptrap (voiced by Jack Black), former mercenary Roland (Kevin Hart), scientist Dr. Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), teenage demolitions expert Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), and Krieg (Florian Munteanu), Tina's large sized protector in order to battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits.

Everything looks familiar and indistinct here. Lilith's return to her home planet of Pandora, a typically generic desert wasteland filled with junk dealers, an assorted variety of criminal types and large, hostile alien creatures, is rather run-of-the-mill. The obstacles she encounters fail to raise the tempo or the excitement levels. Her oddball group go through the usual disagreements and arguments. The lack of imagination while defining that run-of-play is severely restricting. Even Cate Blanchett as Lilith, fails to make her role count for much. The character is poorly written and allows her no room for using her acting chops to the best of her abilities.

The action here feels rote and there's no tension to keep your interest going. "Borderlands" is bound to disappoint the fans of the game and even those virgin viewers who have no idea about its origins, will find it lacking in craft and style.