Borderlands finally hit theaters, but it may be one video game adaptation that should've been left in the Vault. Thinking about saving yourself the cost of a ticket? Well, we watched Borderlands so you don't have to. Spoilers ahead.
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00:00Borderlands finally hit theaters, but it may be one video game adaptation that should have
00:05been left in the vault. Thinking about saving yourself the cost of a ticket? Well, we watch
00:10Borderlands so you don't have to. Spoilers ahead.
00:16Borderlands opens with some lengthy exposition concerning the Eridian, an alien race that
00:21created a vault on the planet Pandora.
00:23God, I hate this planet.
00:25The vault is filled with valuable technologies and can only be opened by an Eridian, but
00:30apparently they've gone extinct.
00:32The driving force of the plot involves Atlas hiring Lilith to rescue his daughter, Tina,
00:37who just so happens to be on Pandora.
00:40With some help from Claptrap, Lilith finds Tina pretty quickly, and Tina reveals that
00:44she can open the vault, later explaining that she's a clone made from old Eridian blood.
00:50I'm the only one who can open the vault.
00:54Tina's already teamed up with Roland and Kree, and the group heads off to locate the
00:58final key that'll allow them to open the vault.
01:02Lilith has lots of history on her homeworld of Pandora, and she meets people who remind
01:06her of her past, like Mad Moxie and Dr. Tannin.
01:10Unfortunately, the group fractures after Roland nearly sacrifices himself to get his friends
01:15to safety, and Tina mistakenly believes Lilith betrayed them to Atlas.
01:20The separation gives Lilith and Claptrap a chance to explore her former home, which
01:25activates some of Claptrap's old programming, including a hologram of her mother explaining
01:31how Lilith was too special to keep on the planet.
01:34It turns out that Lilith is actually the one with Eridian blood who can open the vault,
01:39and what's more, she's actually the embodiment of the Firehawk, an Eridian deity.
01:45At the vault, Atlas, some folks called the Crimson Lance, and a gang of psychos are there
01:49waiting for them.
01:51While Roland was previously seen being attacked by different psychos, he heroically swoops
01:55in.
01:56Lilith also has a heroic entrance, burning through Atlas' army with her Firehawk teleportation
02:02powers.
02:03It seems like the enemy's defeated, but Atlas threatens Tina unless Lilith opens the vault
02:08for him, so she obliges.
02:10It turns out the hidden technologies they've been hunting are a bunch of floating cubes
02:14plus a giant monster.
02:16Atlas gets his comeuppance via tentacle monster while Lilith and Tina escape.
02:20The misfits went out in the end and celebrate their victory with a firework extravaganza
02:25at Sanctuary.
02:26Lilith may have called Pandora a shithole at the beginning of the film, but she's
02:30come to appreciate her new friend.
02:33She celebrates by flying into the fireworks as the glorious Firehawk.
02:37Lilith's journey is fairly boilerplate.
02:40At the start, she's a disgruntled bounty hunter who prefers to keep to herself.
02:44Hello, Vault Hunter.
02:46Need a ride?
02:47Yeah, not a Vault Hunter, but...
02:49Then welcome aboard.
02:50She just wants to get the job done quickly and bring Tina back to Atlas, but she quickly
02:55grows to like her wacky companions, Tina in particular.
02:59Halfway through the movie, the two share an emotional heart-to-heart, where Tina explains
03:04she's cloned from Meridian blood and that Atlas only wants her back because she's useful.
03:09Lilith admits that she barely remembers her mother.
03:12This factors into her initial resentment toward Dr. Tannis, who was supposed to care
03:17for her after her mother gave her up to get her off Pandora.
03:21The same way Lilith feels betrayed by Dr. Tannis, Tina feels betrayed when she thinks
03:25Lilith is still working for Atlas.
03:28Of course, Lilith makes everything right at the end, and they forge a mother-daughter
03:32relationship of sorts.
03:35Borderlands is rated PG-13, but that's never stood in the way of Mayhem and Death.
03:40Time to make it rain with your body parts!
03:43Lilith, Tina, and the rest of the Vault Hunters make it out alive, although Roland has a brush
03:48with death when we see him overrun by Psycho.
03:51And while plenty of Psychos meet their doom, some named characters do, too.
03:56This includes Commander Knox, a foil for much of the film until she has a change of heart
04:00at the Vault.
04:01Before she can get into an impassioned speech, however, she's promptly lasered.
04:05Atlas' army is defeated, and Atlas himself is seemingly killed inside the Vault.
04:10Unless he somehow survives the onslaught of Pentacles and finds a way out of the Vault,
04:14he's for sure dead, meaning any sequels will require a new antagonist.
04:18Well, destiny awaits.
04:22While Borderlands includes plenty of colorful characters from the video games, some are
04:26notably missing.
04:28A surefire way the movie could have gotten people talking was a cameo or post-credits
04:32scene introducing Handsome Jack, the antagonist of Borderlands 2.
04:37Years after the first game's story, Hyperion leader Handsome Jack becomes Pandora's dictator
04:42and a troublesome adversary when it comes to light that Pandora is home to multiple
04:47Vault Hunters.
04:48He's a breakout series character with a twisted sense of humor and tons of charisma.
04:52How the hell are you still alive, Vault Hunter?
04:56You'd imagine that a theoretical Borderlands 2 would utilize Jack as a villain, but he's
05:01not the only notable absence.
05:03Borderlands fans were also shocked when it was revealed that Brick and Mordecai wouldn't
05:07be in the movie.
05:08It turns out that some other Borderlands characters were supposed to be in the final film, but
05:12had their scenes cut.
05:14Entertainment Weekly reports that Sir Alastair Hammerlock and Wainwright Jacobs had a wedding
05:18scene that didn't make it.
05:21Director Eli Roth explained,
05:23We love the actors.
05:24The scene itself turned out great, but in the overall mission of the film, it felt like
05:27a detour that stopped the mood and then went back.
05:31Cheyenne Jackson and Charles Babalola played Jacobs and Hammerlock, while Penn Jillette
05:36of the magic duo Penn and Teller, who has a history with the franchise having voiced
05:40a character in Borderlands 3, made a cameo appearance as the Preacher in the wedding
05:45scene.
05:46Hopefully, that deleted scene gets released eventually so we can all see it.
05:50The tricky thing about video game adaptations is that a single game contains so much lore.
05:56You might play a game for upwards of 40 hours to complete the plot, whereas a movie only
06:01allows for a couple of hours.
06:03The film needs to satisfy fans of the game while not being so esoteric that it puts off
06:07people unfamiliar with the universe.
06:10That may explain why the decision was made to let the movie be its own thing.
06:14What did I tell you?
06:15Minimum explosions!
06:16No explosions!
06:17I said no explosions!
06:18Randy Pitchford, the creator of Borderlands, spoke with Game Rant about letting the movie
06:22exist separately, saying,
06:23"...we kind of created an alternate universe with the film.
06:27We have our storyline and we have where we've been and where we're headed in the games.
06:31And that's really important to us.
06:33With the film space, instead of just recreating the exact same stories we've already done,
06:38we can play with it a little bit and try some different things."
06:41Luckily, I had the creators to take me through the game in years and years of Borderlands
06:45lore.
06:46In essence, the movie starts on the ground floor, explaining the rules of Pandora and
06:50fleshing out the character so anyone can follow along.
06:54This means gamers don't need to worry about missing the film.
06:57That being said, there are plenty of easter eggs for eagle-eyed fans to get a kick out
07:01of.
07:02For example, the Sanctuary has a brief glimpse of a wanted poster for Mick Zoffert from Borderlands
07:062, who's notable for his green fuller hat.
07:10Borderlands ends by leaving more of Pandora to explore, and the Vault Hunters look like
07:14they'll stick together going forward.
07:16There are plenty of adventures they could get into, especially if Handsome Jack is brought
07:21into the mix to look for more vaults.
07:23Or future film installments could take a different route entirely.
07:27That's unknown at this stage, but we do know Randy Pitchford envisions a Borderlands
07:31Cinematic Universe.
07:33In an interview with IGN, he revealed,
07:35"...the Borderlands movie is the first of the Borderlands Cinematic Universe, and you'll
07:40see some characters from some of the different parts of what you might know from the video
07:44game."
07:45The BCU, as it were, could certainly pick up with other characters.
07:49Lilith tends to be the protagonist of the video games, but Borderlands 3 brings in new
07:54playable characters with Amara, Flack, Mose, and Zane.
07:59In the event that Cate Blanchett didn't feel like returning to Borderlands, a follow-up
08:03could pick up with someone new.
08:04The first movie already established that a franchise doesn't need to follow the games
08:09precisely.
08:10The films could be more malleable, but even so, there's no guarantee that Borderlands
08:142 will happen just yet.
08:17When Looper tried to predict the biggest box office bombs of 2024, Borderlands was left
08:22off the list, which may have been an oversight on our part.
08:25So far, Borderlands is looking at a rough beginning.
08:28Reports suggest the movie had a budget of around $120 million, and it had an $8.8 million
08:35opening weekend in the U.S.
08:37It's a rocky start for the budding BCU, and may make Lionsgate hesitant to invest further
08:42in the film franchise.
08:44Of course, Borderlands opened against the Blake Lively-starring It Ends With Us, as
08:48well as the horror flick Cuckoo with Hunter Schafer.
08:51On top of that, there's also the continuing dominance of Deadpool and Wolverine.
08:55The Marvel movie is the closest to Borderlands in terms of tone and genre, but unlike Borderlands,
09:01it leans into its source material's R-rated nature.
09:04I'd have to get into incredible shape for this role if I knew it'd seem late in the
09:08second act.
09:09It's still too early to say for sure whether or not the Borderlands cinematic universe
09:13will pan out.
09:14Who knows, Borderlands might bounce back, based on strong word of mouth, even with a
09:19freakin' terrible Rotten Tomatoes score hovering at 9%.
09:23Feel free to applaud.
09:26Video game adaptations had their years in the gutter.
09:30Whether they totally failed to capture the spirit of the game, or incorporated bizarre
09:34stylistic choices, video game adaptations used to be synonymous with failure.
09:39But lately, it hasn't been so bad.
09:41The Last of Us Season 1, for example, took home a slew of Emmys.
09:45The Sonic the Hedgehog movies have been financial successes, even launching the spinoff series
09:49Knuckles on Paramount+.
09:52That's not even getting into how 2023 saw the Super Mario Bros. movie pull in over $1.3
09:59at the global box office.
10:01Combined with critical praise for the show's Fallout and Arcane, it seems at least possible
10:05that the days of terrible video game adaptations are behind us, although Borderlands takes
10:11a definite step back.
10:12Do you know how many people have died looking for this vault?
10:17We have something they don't, baby girl.
10:19To be clear, it's doubtful that anyone is less excited about The Last of Us Season 2
10:24because Borderlands got bad reviews.
10:26One misstep doesn't mean we've been catapulted back to the days of Street Fighter, The Legend
10:31of Chun-Li.
10:32However, it does remind studios that making a movie or TV show based on a popular game
10:37series doesn't guarantee success, even in this new climate.
10:42At this point, it's obvious that Borderlands hasn't won over many fans.
10:47Critics have trashed the movie, and general audiences aren't interested.
10:51Maybe it'll gain a following once it's available on streaming.
10:55However, going off what Cate Blanchett has said about the movie, she may have known how
10:59it would turn out all along.
11:01Speaking with USA Today, she said,
11:03I mean, it's not The Grapes of Wrath.
11:05It's not Blade Runner.
11:07It's its own strange, weird thing.
11:09And when you look at the casting, there's a motley quality to it.
11:12I'm not saying Borderlands is a classic.
11:15It's fun, fun, fun.
11:17But it's not Citizen Kane.
11:18What's happening right now?
11:20I'm expelling the excess lead.
11:21I can't go if you're looking at me!
11:24There you have it.
11:25Borderlands is meant to be a fun time, not a best picture contender.
11:29If you have fun watching it, that's all that matters.
11:32If you don't, then you're certainly not alone.