The other day, we were floating around, trying to find something to watch. Originally, we wanted to watch a tv show, but nothing jumped out at us.
Then, as we were going through Amazon, we saw The Borderlands film advertised and decided to give it a go.
Initial Thoughts
Prior to watching it, I had a feeling it was going to be terrible, mainly because of the reception it received upon its release.
Fans of the franchise - mostly - said it was crap. It was yet another game film that didn't have any thought put into it, and there were a lot of different things people said about it, which made me believe it was going to be a really bad movie.
I've always been a fan of the Borderlands games, so I wasn't really looking forward to seeing yet another franchise I like being destroyed. At the very least, I thought I could laugh at how terrible the film was.
I'm glad to say I was pleasantly surprised by the film, and I think they handled it as well as they could.
The Style
Personally, I think the film captured the style of the Borderlands games. In some areas, it felt gritty; in others, it felt the right amount of cartoony; and in general, it felt action-packed without being overly gore-y.
For example, there are big explosions, and a hell of a lot of rounds of ammunition were spent while doing basically no damage to the cast or the enemies they faced. In a way, it seemed to capture the bullet sponge enemies of the film, and I don't know if that was an intentional choice or if it was by accident, but it certainly seemed to help capture the feeling of the games.
In saying that, I think anyone not familiar with the games could easily tune into this movie and come away with an idea of what it would be like. Or, at the very least, they'd be introduced to a new sci-fi world.
The beasts looked good, and the psychos felt good and had that comedic charm as they have in the games. The world felt dirty and lived-in, without being a deep, dark, depressing, dystopian dreamland.
The Cast
While I enjoyed the cast, there are a few people I'll comment on.
Kate Blanchet, I personally think, was a bad choice of casting. I think Lilith should have been played by someone in their 30s, rather than Kate Blanchet, who is in her mid-50s.
The only reason I say this is because some of her story revolved around people talking to her about her mum, and most of the people saying "I haven't seen you since you were a little girl," seemed to be roughly the same age as her, while, realistically, when she was 8, they'd have to be in their 20s/ 30s, meaning that those characters should have been in their 70s, 80s, or even 90s, to make it feel genuine.
I don't know, it just felt a bit strange. So, changing the story/ writing a bit could have helped if they wanted to keep her in the film. She did play the part well enough, other than that nitpick.
Jack Black, I thought, was a good choice for Claptrap, mainly because he came across as the character does in the game.
Everyone else was a solid choice for casting, and they all played their parts well.
The film was a pleasant surprise compared to what I thought it would be, based on what I heard about it.
If you like comedic sci-fi action movies, it's a decent watch, but don't go in expecting cinema that breaks ground and pushes boundaries. It's a popcorn movie, not deep cinema.