By John Corrado

Eli Roth, the actor turned filmmaker who is mostly known for his bloody slasher movies, now takes a stab at directing a video game adaptation with Borderlands.

But, in bringing the titular franchise to the screen, Roth struggles mightily to overcome the curse of most video game adaptations. The result is a messy, CGI-laden blockbuster that has no idea if it wants to be a cheesy kids adventure movie or something more edgy and sardonic.

Roth’s film is trying desperately to be Guardians of the Galaxy, with its rag-tag group of heroes and space opera roots. But it’s plagued by a thin, predictable plot, vaguely annoying characters, and humour that mostly falls flat, with Roth stuck working within the confines of a pesky PG-13 rating that dulls the action and dirty language.

The film is set on Pandora, the home planet of bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett). She is being paid by the powerful Atlas (Edgar Ramírez) to collect and return his rogue daughter, who might hold the key to unlocking great power. On this treasure hunt of sorts, Lilith becomes part of a renegade group with Tiny Tina (Arianna Greenblatt), a hyper teenage rebel who wears bunny ears and has exploding stuffed animals; her alien bodyguard Krieg (Florian Munteanu); former mercenary Roland (Kevin Hart); and scientist Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis).

There’s also an irritating robot sidekick named Claptrap (voiced by Jack Black, in a rare misstep for his vocal performances), who gives Jar Jar Binks a run for his money. The fact that this cast is being led by Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett adds another layer of absurdity and a sense of desperation to Roth’s film (Blanchett said she took on the role because she needed a break from “COVID madness,” so I guess we can add that to the growing list of reasons why the government-imposed lockdowns were bad for society as a whole).

A movie like this must rely on good interplay between its characters, but the various cast members in Borderlands feel weirdly mismatched, and don’t share much in the way of chemistry. Blanchett and Curtis (a fellow Oscar-winner) in particular look almost embarrassed to be there collecting a paycheque. The screenplay, co-written by Roth and Joe Crombie, features a litany of nonsensical character choices, and is peppered with crude humour and cringey one-liners.

For a film this colourful and action-packed, Borderlands ends up being surprisingly dull and even boring. Roth’s direction smacks of being a for-hire job; it’s worth noting that Tim Miller took over for reshoots when Roth left the production to make his low budget slasher Thanksgiving. The action scenes are mostly derivative (like a Mad Max riff where they ride through a desert landscape filled with worm piss), and the visual effects often look cheap and rushed; the film had a reported budget north of $110 million, but often looks and feels like a lost project from the mid-2000s.

I admittedly haven’t played the video game on which the film is based, so I can’t entirely say how hardcore fans might react to Borderlands, and also won’t try to comment on its accuracy to the game (aside from doing some precursory research). But, purely as a movie, Borderlands is kind of a mess. It’s an uninspired sci-fi adventure, that feels slapped together from a variety of better sources.

Film Rating: ★½ (out of 4)

Borderlands opens exclusively in theatres on August 9th. It’s being distributed in Canada by Cineplex Pictures.