Borderlands – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Borderlands – Disasters of Pandora: Novelty & Potential

Going to the theaters, no matter if it’s action or romance, you hope that the story will invoke a gratifying feeling.  That feeling is something that can build up memories, leading to an unforgettable experience.  For all the possibilities, not everything on the big screen can be worthy.  When this happens, it can feel like a wasted experience.  In this review, I look at the latest video game adaptation to hit the big screen.  Long story short … Borderlands is a visualized mess of wasted potential. 

In a story of space and family, a ragtag group of strangers embark on a journey to find unimaginable power.  With everyone after the same thing, will they save the day or lose in the end.  To begin this review, I will profess this fact: film is a very subjective medium.  With this art form, what strikes a feeling within can be different for any individual.  Even within the nature of opinions, there are times when most people can agree if a story is great, good or bad … which is the case for this latest video game adaptation.  In the beginning, we start off with a voice narrative prologue that lays out the main purpose of the film:  On the planet Pandora … there is a vault that holds the potential of knowledge and power (MacGuffin), that everyone hopes to unleash upon the galaxy for (insert whatever reason).  Once this foundation is set, we are then introduced to our main characters (Roland (Kevin Hart), Lilith (Cate Blanchett), Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt)) and antagonist (Atlas (Edgar Ramirez)).  Once the main players are set, we head off to Pandora where the journey is littered with obscure interactions, outrageously bad visuals and underdeveloped story elements.  As you watch the film, the lackluster appeal comes from the obvious novelty without any attempt to build depth from the source material.  From the promise of unique personalities to the intriguing expanse of this far away planet, lack of direction leads to a journey that becomes ‘visual noise’ without any consequence.  This leads to that rare consensus of a terrible experience.

As our characters journey across the planet, the predictable decisions fall upon three things: lack of adaptation, simple narrative progression and one-dimensional characters.  Each scene becomes a repetitive nature of:

conversational exposition > over-the-top action sequence > last second save

This repetitive nature of the directive continues to derail the promise of the premise, leaving the audience baffled by the monotony.  This all leads to an underwhelming climax and no exciting epilogue.  Borderlands is a video game adaptation that fails on its promised potential.  With film being subjective, you might have a different experience … otherwise, just don’t waste your time.

Full Score – 1 out of 5 (Mind Numbing)