Thursday, 2 January 2025

VOD: Borderlands (dir: Eli Roth, 2024)

"You're with me!"
"Wish I wasn't..."

How much of embattled Eli Roth's original vision remains is unclear, but the troubled videogame adaptation Borderlands was finally released to a critical and box-office mauling, and it is not difficult to see why.  On paper, the movie has a lot going for it: a name director, an eclectic starry cast (including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gina Gershon and more) and a fair budget.  What emerged is basically a very shouty pseudo-videogame runaround that follows a mis-matched team trying to rescue a girl who is prophesied to be a planet's saviour, playing like a violent and hysterical version of Guardians Of the Galaxy without the charm, wit and heart.  Blanchett inevitably eats up the screen, and there are lots of strong sci-fi ideas and visuals in play. and while there is an effort made to capture the freewheeling wackiness of its source, the film feels rather messy, wayward and a tad indulgent.
 

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