Top 10 Worst Things about the Borderlands Movie

Let’s get this one out of the way. While the casting choices were questionable in the beginning due to age differences between the actors and characters, some of us tried to keep an open mind. However, it definitely feels like star power was tacked onto “Borderlands” for the sake of having star power. None of the cast’s performances feel remotely close to the source material, and the age differences become really, really hard to ignore for fans of the games. When no one looks or feels like the cast of the original iterations, you have to wonder who the movie is supposed to cater to.

The “Borderlands” movie does get one thing right. Just like the games bring up in their own lore, Pandora was created by an ancient alien race known as the Eridians and was made to keep a dangerous creature from destroying the universe. However, this beast barely has any presence nor prominence in the movie. Instead, we have this child who is a failed clone of the Eridians? On top of that, the movie barely touches upon the overarching theme of the games that commentates on weapons manufacturing, corporate greed, and companies with private militaries. In other words, the movie is carrying only a small percentage of the games’ DNA in its story. Did everything else just wind up on the cutting room floor or did we forget some of the crucial aspects of “Borderlands”?

Some of the audio mixing in the “Borderlands” movie is downright awful, and considering the crew had to do two weeks of reshoots, where did the quality control go? In a couple of scenes, you may have noticed characters talking out of sync or lines being said when no one is speaking at all. Look, ADR is really important in the final stretches of movie production. It can help make lines clearer, fix audio problems that may have occurred on set, and even strengthen performances. Here, the ADR feels like a Band-Aid on a wide open wound; mismatched lines can really damage your cast’s performances as well as pull the audience out of your story quickly. It’s a part of the editing process you cannot overlook.

We promise we aren’t trying to pick on the cast. What we want to draw attention to are the Vault Hunters who are and are not in this movie. Though Lilith and Roland are the two most important characters in the franchise, it’s a real shame that the “Borderlands” movie left out Mordecai and Brick, the other two Vault Hunters featured in the first game. How come Krieg got a spot when he was a throwaway DLC character for the second game and only briefly appears in the third? While Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford claims that Brick was originally planned to be in the movie, something tells us that was never the case. Besides, you can’t have Brick without Mordecai because the two do become friends in the games.

Play the first “Borderlands” video game for an hour or two, and you’ll notice something about the architecture featured in various settlements and enemy camps. Yes, there is junk everywhere, but there are still unique buildings with distinct styles to give the environment some character. Fyrestone, Skag Gully, Sanctuary - they all have a layout to give them an identity. The “Borderlands” movie has no personality in any of its settings. Sanctuary is a marketplace of pipes, garbage, and neon signs everywhere. As for every other setting, it’s more garbage, more generic layouts, and a ton of sand. Remove the name, and you could guess these set pieces belonged to any other post-apocalyptic or sci-fi movie.

Unfortunately, “Borderlands” has had a questionable sense of humor in recent years. Ever since “Borderlands 3” in 2019, the series has relished in jokes that often come off as juvenile, borderline childish in most cases. Once upon a time, “Borderlands” was clever and witty in its humor, much of it leaning into the violence while touching upon some grim subject matter. You know, “dark humor”. Instead of trying to replicate the wit of the early games, the movie joins in on the childish antics “Borderlands 3” started and cranks it up a notch with toilet humor. Come on, did we really need an entire scene dedicated to Claptrap awkwardly soiling himself in front of the entire cast?

Speaking of childish and immature, Tiny Tina is nothing like her video game counterpart. It’s a real shame, too, because her character was part of what made “Borderlands 2” so memorable. As we mentioned earlier, the movie Tiny Tina is some failed clone of the Eridians. The games did absolutely nothing like that. In the games, Tiny Tina is a child who has been traumatized by her parents getting killed by a band of Psychos. As a result, she’s become almost as crazy as the Psychos who hurt her as she personifies her plush bunnies and arsenal of explosive weaponry. Which iteration of Tiny Tina sounds more interesting from a storytelling perspective: the unpredictable explosives expert or the failed clone who needs to be escorted?

Claptrap is another character the “Borderlands” movie adapts horrendously. In the games, Claptrap is meant to be your welcome to Pandora. Though he puts on a cheery, happy-go-lucky attitude while giving you the tutorial and quests, Claptrap will sometimes show a bit of immaturity by insulting someone while their back is turned. His two-faced personality is what makes him funny, and it’s even funnier when he gets kicked down for being so overconfident in a dangerous world. The movie completely sidelines him and makes him the token comic relief, and most of his antics come off as totally annoying even for viewers (e.g. the soiling scene we mentioned a little bit ago).

When adapting a book, a TV show, or even a video game, it’s important that you match the tone and aesthetics that the source material goes for. With the exception of “Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands”, every game in the “Borderlands” franchise is rated M for Mature. That alone should imply that there is some importance in the games’ visceral nature. Not only is it a part of the games’ visual identity, it also plays a part in how the humor should be depicted. Just from the PG-13 rating, the “Borderlands” movie immediately handicaps itself by needing to remove that visceral aspect of the games. So, now, you’re banking entirely on the humor, story, and costumes, none of which did the games any justice.

This is the movie’s biggest crime. The number one goal in every adaptation, in every cross-media movement is to expand your audience and show why the thing you are adapting is revered in other fields of entertainment. The “Borderlands” movie fails in every possible avenue in achieving this. In trying to tell an original story, you axed characters some fans deem important. In leaning into the same sense of humor that fans have complained about for years, you have alienated not just them, but the new audience you could have pulled in as well. In trying to assemble a cast of notable actors, you effectively blew through most of your budget that could have strengthened the now-weaker aspects of the movie like the set design and CGI. And in trying to appeal to everyone with a PG-13 rating, you have compromised in translating aspects of what you’re adapting, and thus, failed in showing why an M-rated gaming franchise mattered in the first place. That said, what reason does anyone have in seeing “Borderlands”? Who was this for?

Did you wind up seeing the dumpster fire for yourself, or did you ignore “Borderlands” like most of the world did? Let us know down in the comments.