Borderlands

Borderlands is a 2024 American science fiction action comedy film co-written and directed by Eli Roth, based on the video game series developed by Gearbox Software. The film stars Cate Blanchett as Lillith, an infamous outlaw who returns to the place where she grew up and forms an alliance with a team of misfits to find the missing daughter of the most powerful man in the universe. The ensemble cast also features Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Édgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
A film adaptation of the video game series was announced in August 2015, with Lionsgate developing the project with Ari and Avi Arad producing, and Leigh Whannell in talks to direct it. By February 2020, Erik Feig joined as a producer and Roth was attached to direct the film from a screenplay by Craig Mazin. Casting occurred from May 2020 to April 2021, with Blanchett cast first and others added the following year. Principal photography began in April 2021 in Budapest, Hungary, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and wrapped in June. Two weeks of reshoots occurred in early 2023, directed by Tim Miller due to Roth's commitments to Thanksgiving (2023). Later, in June that same year, Mazin removed his name from the project and was replaced by Joe Crombie.
Borderlands had its world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on August 6, 2024, and was released in the United States by Lionsgate on August 9. The film received negative reviews from critics.
== Plot ==
On the planet of Pandora, Roland, a mercenary soldier apparently gone rogue, kidnaps teenager Tiny Tina with the help of Krieg, a "Psycho" who was institutionalized in the same facility.
Meanwhile, on another planet, bounty hunter Lilith is contacted by Atlas, a powerful corporate magnate. He convinces her to rescue Tina, his daughter. Lilith returns to Pandora, her home planet, for the first time since she was a child. With the help of Claptrap, a robot that was mysteriously programmed to wait for her on Pandora, she locates Tina.
After realizing that Atlas wants his daughter back against her will, Lilith teams up with Roland and Krieg when they are attacked by the Crimson Lance, the private army of Atlas. Lilith is informed that Tina was genetically engineered with biological material from the Eridians, the ancient race that once inhabited Pandora, and that Atlas believes only she can open the Vault where the secrets of the lost civilization's advanced technology are kept.
With the help of Lilith's long-ago foster mother, Dr. Patricia Tannis, they locate the key to open the Vault in a underground maze occupied by a tribe of Psychos. They manage to take the key to the surface. Lilith destroys the device Atlas entrusted her with to signal when she had rescued Tina, and he immediately communicates with her via robotic drone, explaining that he still wants the girl. Tina overhears the end of the conversation and assumes Lilith has betrayed her. She throws a grenade at Lilith, leaving her unconscious. When Lilith recovers, Claptrap unknowingly plays a holographic message for her, recorded by her mother.
The next day, without Lilith and Claptrap, the team find the Vault only to realize Atlas is waiting for them. However, Tina is unable to open the Vault. Lilith appears and explains that she is the one who can do it, being an Eridian known as the Firehawk. Atlas threatens to kill Tina if Lilith does not open the Vault. She obeys but traps Atlas inside, where a creature drags him away. The group celebrates their survival.
== Cast ==
== Release ==
The film premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on August 6, 2024. It was theatrically released in the United States by Lionsgate Films on August 9, 2024. The film cost $110–120 million to produce, and Lionsgate spent $30 million on print and advertising. International presales reportedly covered 60% of production costs.
== Reception ==
===Box office===
In the United States and Canada, Borderlands was released alongside It Ends With Us and Cuckoo, and is projected to gross $8–16 million from 3,125 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $4 million on its first day, including an estimated $1.32 million from Thursday previews.
===Critical response===
Reviews for the film were negative. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it a 46% positive score, with 31% saying they would definitely recommend it.
The Guardian called the film "janky" and a "juvenile and derivative adaptation" while Variety found it was a "generic gaming adaptation that deprives audiences of the most valuable ingredient of its source: surprise." The Independent went as far as to state it was a "total disaster" while Rolling Stone wondered if Borderlands was the worst video game movie ever, and the Evening Standard, if that was the worst film of the year.
PC Gamer compared Borderlands to numerous other video game movie adaptations: "You might have heard the claim that this is a righting of the scale, … [to] remind us that good adaptations are the exception, not the rule. We needed a new Super Mario Bros. (1993). We didn't get one. Borderlands cannot hold a candle to Super Mario Bros. It is not interestingly bad. … It has no cheesy, thwarted ambition to redeem it. It never becomes more than a waste of a hundred minutes."
Blanchett's performance was mildly praised by Tim Grierson, of Screen Daily, who contrasted it with the rest of the ensemble cast: "Not many in the starry ensemble shine. Vivid character actors like Gina Gershon and Jamie Lee Curtis, who, respectively, play an alluring club owner and a respected scientist, are trapped in stale genre types. Even the potentially intriguing change-of-pace performances — such as Hart in a far more sombre turn than we expect from the explosive comedian — flatline."
Among the more positive reviews, MovieWeb noted, "Roth displays his cinematic prowess with solid combat scenes. Munteanu's Krieg is a beast and a half, twisting baddies into human pretzels with unabashed glee. The violence is brutal but not graphically disturbing." The review insisted, "It's stunning to see a Roth film without even a hint of blood. The producers made a business calculation to avoid the R-rating and allow children who also enjoy the games to see the film. Die-hard Roth fans expecting his trademark gruesome torture should sit this one out."
== External links ==
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== References ==
Category:2024 films