The idea of turning the popular Borderlands video game franchise into a movie isn’t an awful one. However, like all great adaptations, it takes a certain level of care to make things work, something Eli Roth’s film doesn’t have, at least if you ask critics.
Reviews for the movie, which hits theaters on August 9, are out, which means its Rotten Tomatoes score is available for all to see. At the time of writing, it’s sitting at zero percent. About two dozen reviews are on the Rotten Tomatoes website, and each one of them makes it clear that Borderlands is a disaster from start to finish.
“It’s just disappointing that the source material has so much more to offer in terms of its layered characters and complicated themes of trauma and survival that the film seems either uninterested in or incapable of tapping into,” said Collider’s Taylor Gates.
“Is Borderlands the worst film of the year? It’s definitely in contention — so laughably bad, in fact, that it feels like being catapulted back to a time when video game adaptations were a byword for mediocrity,” added London Evening Standard’s Vicky Jessop.
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Leaving Rotten Tomatoes and seeking out reviews from gaming websites won’t change much. IGN’s Matt Donato agreed with his peers, saying, “In all honesty, Borderlands feels incomplete. [Eli] Roth’s storytelling rushes forward with a conspicuous briskness, as if crucial building blocks were missing from the plot.”
The idea of the film being “incomplete” probably has a lot to do with Tim Miller taking over reshoots after Roth was unable to return. Making movies by committee is never a good idea, and it’s even worse when the source material is near and dear to so many fans’ hearts.
Borderlands opens in theaters on August 9, 2024.
Published: Aug 8, 2024 10:21 am