Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/02/24/the-borderlands-movie-succumbs-to-the-video-game-adaptation-curse.html
…
2 Likes
This is the second movie Eli Roth has made with Cate Blanchett and Jack Black. The other one didn’t do all that well. And yeah, this trailer practically screams, “If you loved Guardians of the Galaxy, PLEASE COME WATCH MY MOVIE!!!” How do directors like this keep getting work?
5 Likes
It seems ok, i guess. The thing is that Borderlands is mostly a mash up of a parody of Madmax and Robocop (with it’s megacorp/capitalism black humor), with a ton of wild nonsense holding it all together. For a liveaction movie it might’ve worked but a lot of changes would’ve been needed, though i think the best way to do it would’ve been to make a fully CG/animated movie
11 Likes
Maybe a cartoon in the vein of Dead Leaves.
1 Like
The only thing that really annoys me about the trailer is that they’ve toned down Tina’s hyperactive-13-year-old-with-PTSD character to your standard sullen teenager. Hart’s not doing his usual nonsense, and Roland’s character never really had anything to do with height. Lee-Curtis is going to fucking nail Tannis. I don’t think Lilith’s age matters at all, tho she is a bit too world-weary here. The games themselves have always been about a ragtag crew of misfits in space - GotG comparisons are kinda lazy; it was never going to be any other kind of film.
Honestly still fairly optimistic about it all.
11 Likes
I mean, it’s supposed to be stupid, but…
(?)
2 Likes
Yeah, but it has Jamie Lee Curtis, someone who still, somehow, doesn’t get the recognition that male actors with similar resumes do… she fucking rules though.
14 Likes
Jamie Lee Curtis is a badass, and she’s a genuine pop culture nerd which really endears her to me even further. Love seeing all the family cosplay she’s done over the years.
17 Likes
She seems hella cool, and embraces a lot of her fandoms.
And she’s been married to Christopher Guest since 1984!
And she’s been very supportive of her trans adult kid.
Combined with charity work, seems like a really decent person, and I enjoy her acting.
14 Likes
A clip of that “God I hate this planet” could be a keeper.
4 Likes
I just find it funny that a video game that had a distinct look and style has been adapted into a movie that looks like a generic video-game movie made from a generic video game.
Yeah, this really wasn’t a video game that was calling out for a movie adaptation. The games are “zany” and dumb and incoherent in a way that works for video games but not movies, and were largely notable for their visual style that doesn’t translate to live action. Video game movies in general feel pointless to me, but Borderlands doubly so.
1 Like
The game series i would describe as frantic, stupid and something akin to a Lisa Frank nightmare strapped to a nuclear bomb. It’s meant to be irreverent, shinny and scratch that itch for satisfying gameplay of seeing lots of big numbers and grabbing all the loot/guns. This just doesn’t translate to a live action movie easily, and while i think it could be pulled off the movie we got is a pass for me. The only way i’d see this is if i’m forced to watch it in a social setting 
4 Likes
Yeah, seems like the best case scenario here is you end up with a stupid, comedic action sci-fi movie that has little-to-nothing to do with the games, but is still dumb fun. I don’t know that’s what this is, though…
I suspect this is going to be one of those “it’s on a streaming service I have, and I’m feeling particularly perverse” sort of viewings.
2 Likes
This is one of those things where the internet opinions of entitled fans will absolutely sink this film before opening day. And I hate that it’s going to be justified.
The casting doesn’t look great besides celebrity presence, and the quips in the trailer are indistinguishable from most of the humor in new post-Whedon action-adventure movies. Both are areas where this movie should have stood out. Here’s hoping we get Krieg’s inner monologue, but if not I’ll just go watch Boy Kills World when that comes out because that looks like the kind of unique stupid I was hoping for in an adaptation.
2 Likes
5 Likes
It looks like it might be fun
4 Likes
Pretty much, i think that sometimes for an adaptation of a videogame to succeed it has to lowkey disrespect the source material and do its own thing. While that might sound upsetting for big fans of a given IP, the movie should ideally stand on its own legs and have something to say besides blatant fan service and checking off boxes on what the game did.
If they made pretty much Madmax on an acid trip and really commit to that i think it could be great. I don’t want to be a hater for something i haven’t seen yet so it might be worth watching once, i’m just not gunna go out of my way to do so.
5 Likes
I must be getting old, but cel shading for 3D games was pioneered by Jet Set Radio on the Dreamcast.
I think Dragon’s Lair was before that 
3 Likes
