Based on the best-selling videogame, Borderlands is an action-adventure film that follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.
The film has been adapted by writer-director, Eli Roth (Hostel, The House with a Clock in its Walls, Thanksgiving) and on the whole the critical response has been poor.
It has the usual science-fiction ingredients – distant planets, conflict in the universe, power-hungry rulers, a tough bounty hunter, commentary from a scientist and a young girl at the centre of the conflict.
It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall at the discussions with the casting director. Cate Blanchett is too subtle a screen presence to be persuasive as the bounty hunter. Kevin Hart, noted for his wisecracking performances, does not fit the tough-guy warrior mould.
Jamie-Lee Curtis, who has a history of portraying strong women in difficult situations, plays a scientist – a kind of wisdom figure who is able to articulate what is going on in terms of the planets, civilisation and a hidden vault with secrets of the universe.
The other main asset of the action is a one-wheel robotic machine whose every thought is voiced aloud and is also full of wisecracks. Jack Black fits the role perfectly and, for this reviewer, was one of the more enjoyable aspects of the film.
Review by Fr Peter Malone MSC, Jesuit Media.
Borderlands: Starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Edgar Ramirez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Haley Bennett, voice of Jack Black. Directed by Eli Roth. 102 minutes. Rated M (Action violence)
FULL REVIEW
Borderlands (Australian Catholics)
