The Borderlands movie is nearing release but why is it that fans aren’t happy about its star-studded cast and accuracy to the video games?
It’s been five years since Borderlands 3 and while there are rumours of a sequel being announced soon there’s not been anything official. Instead, there’s been much more information about the upcoming movie adaptation.
According to developer Gearbox, a Borderlands annoucement will happen ‘sooner rather than later’, but probably not until after the movie premieres.
The Borderlands movie is an action comedy including many of the video game characters fans will already know, played by a range of Hollywood heavyweights, including Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart.
When is the Borderlands movie coming out?
The Borderlands movie will be released in the UK on Thursday, August 8, and comes out August 9 in the US.
The film adaptation was first announced back in 2015, but filming didn’t start until 2021, soon after it had secured its cast.
Who are the actors in the Borderlands movie?
Borderlands will feature Cate Blanchett as Lilith, one of the key characters from the series, starting from the original video game in 2009.
Kevin Hart plays the role of seasoned mercenary Roland, also a playable character in the first Borderlands video game. Meanwhile, Jamie Lee Curtis plays oddball scientist Dr Patricia Tannis, who is a non-playable character but has also been in the series since the start.
Jack Black voices Claptrap, the franchise’s robot mascot who often serves as comic relief in the video games. Finally, the main antagonist, Deukalian Atlas, is played by Venezuelan actor Édgar Ramírez. Atlas is a weapons manufacturer in the games and Ramírez plays the CEO of the company.
The 101 minute long film is directed by Eli Roth, known for heading horror movies such as Hostel and The Green Inferno.
How accurate is the Borderlands movie to the video games?
The Borderlands movie uses many of the existing characters, such as Lilith, Claptrap, and Atlas, and is set on the planet Pandora from the first game.
The story in the Borderlands movie is an original one, not a retelling of any of the games, as director Roth and co. consider it to be a separate universe to the games.
While the Borderlands video games are known for their polarising sense of humour, this seems to have been dialled down in the film, judging by the trailers.
Many fans have been unimpressed by the trailers, upset that the film isn’t 18-rated and that the tone is more family-friendly. Many are displeased with the casting too, and the fact that the trailers don’t feature the same licensed music as the games.
Considering the cel-shaded visuals are a key part of the games’ appeal there’s only so much the movie can look like it too, without becoming an animated film.
According to the official synopsis the plot sounds quite similar to Guardians Of The Galaxy:
‘Lilith, an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas.
‘Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland, a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina, a feral teenage demolitionist; Krieg, Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis, the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap, a persistently wiseass robot.’
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