Critics are ripping the video game movie adaptation of Borderlands, starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart and Jack Black.
Directed by Eli Roth, Borderlands is an adaption of the Borderlands video game series that began in 2009. The movie stars Blanchett as Lilith, a mysterious bounty hunter who reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora after a powerful space baron, Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), plays her a huge sum to locate his missing daughter.
Upon her return to Pandora, Lilith switches gears and seeks a legendary vault full of treasure with a group of new allies, including a mercenary, Roland (Hart), a pre-teen demolitionist named Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) and her bodyguard Krieg (Florian Munteanu).
Lilith is also joined on her mission by a wisecracking robot named Claptrap (voice of Black) and an old ally, Tannis (Curtis), who is a scientist and archaeologist.
The film played in previews Thursday night and it didn’t take long for critics to bombard Borderlands with bad reviews.
As of Thursday, Rotten Tomatoes critics collectively gave the big-budget movie a 6% “rotten” rating based on 48 reviews.
The RT Critics Consensus reads, “Glitching out in every department, Borderlands is balderdash.” Viewers on RT, however, gave the movie a 52% “rotten” rating based on 50-plus verified user ratings.
What Did Individual Critics Say About ‘Borderlands’?
Several top Rotten Tomatoes critics weighed on Borderlands and compliments for the film were almost non-existent.
In his summary of the movie, Toronto Star critic Peter Howell writes, “There are still many cinema turkeys headed our way before the year closes. But this sci-fi gobbler mixes inept directing, terrible writing, indifferent acting and gawdawful CGI into such stupefying boredom, it feels like nothing could top it for badness.”
Basically saying the film is for nobody, Rolling Stone critic David Fear writes, “It’s not a movie for critics, as the saying goes. Nor is it suitable for consumption by most gamers, film lovers, or 99 percent of carbon-based life forms.”
In his knock on the film, The Daily Beast critic Nick Schager brought the controversial showbiz subject of artificial intelligence into his review of Borderlands, writing, “So drearily routine and slapdash that even an A.I. would deem it too plagiaristic.”
In a warning to potential game player audience members, Barry Hertz of the U.K.’s Globe and Mail writes, “Tonally messy, narratively janky and slathered with pasted-over narration that reeks of creative indecision, the film is an embarrassing affair for even the most hardcore of gamers.”
Meanwhile, the London Evening Standard’s critic, Vicky Jessop, takes no prisoners in her review, writing, “Is Borderlands the worst film of the year? It’s definitely in contention—so laughably bad, in fact, that it feels like being catapulted back to a time when video game adaptations were a byword for mediocrity.”
Adding insult to injury, Deadline projects that Borderlands—which is being released by Lionsgate—will only make $15 million in its opening weekend. The film, Deadline added, had a production budget of $120 million to $130 million with an additional $30 million spent on prints and advertising costs.
Rated PG-13, Borderlands opens Friday in theaters nationwide.
