I binge-watch popcorn movies but the Borderlands film isn’t even dumb fun
VINCE Vaughn recently went viral after his spicy interview with Sean Evans on the YouTube show Hot Ones.
Vaughn pointed out something that all moviegoers already knew: that Hollywood is more focused on games based on popular IPs rather than creating anything original.
He said: “The people in charge don’t want to get fired more so than they're looking to do something great.”
Vaughn’s career is hallmarked by comedies like The Wedding Crashers and The Break Up, movies that aren’t made these days despite their moderate success.
Now films need to be tied to an already popular IP in order to be made, which is why we see a rise in superhero-driven storytelling.
That’s not to say these films are bad; video game IP-driven films and TV shows vary in quality, but rise to the highs of The Last of Us and Fallout, or can be categorised as ‘dumb fun’ like The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
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However, we are now sorely bereft of mid-budget films that simply say something about life, whether it's a comedy, romance, or horror, that sheds light on the human condition.
In exchange for these fun films, we receive soulless action movies based on popular IPs, where no one involved seemed passionate about the project.
Which brings us to Borderlands, a recently released film based on Gearbox Software’s popular series of games.
Borderlands as a video game series is popular for its stylised look and kooky humour, though its edgy nature hasn’t aged well in the 15 years since the original game’s release.
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The film doesn’t know who it’s for and it doesn’t care either. The cast is full of highly-talented actors and yet we’ve never experienced 102 more boring minutes.
Cate Blanchett gave one of the greatest performances of 2022 in Todd Field’s TÁR, yet there was nothing she could do with the bizarre mish-mash of unnatural dialogue and stiff poses director Eli Roth has inflicted on her.
Jack Black captures exactly how hateable Claptrap is in the games, but that doesn’t make for a fun viewing experience.
All of the talent in the world couldn’t save the huge amount of unnecessary exposition, and obviously sign-posted humour.
Borderlands is lifeless, and no amount of poorly crafted action sequences, manufactured unearned emotion, and cringeworthy attempts at witty quips can revive it.
Near the end it almost begs the audience to forgive how unrelenting and dull it is, but it’s far too late.
If this film doesn’t stop studio executives from salivating at the sight of every single IP that comes across their desks, nothing will.
We all need to vote with our wallets and start saying no to movies that disrespect our intelligence and waste our time.
If you want to read about a successful video game adaptation, check out our Fallout TV show review.
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