Borderlands (2024)
Thanks to social media, Eli Roth's Borderlands
was thoroughly trashed before it was even released. There were reports of reshoots,
the original screenwriter took his name off the project, and fans of the video
game on which the movie is based cried foul because of the casting, the look of
the characters, and the screenplay.
Now that it is out in cinemas, it isn't
getting a fair shake considering that, as of this writing, it has a paltry
score of 9% on the dubious Rotten Tomatoes site. It's not that bad. In fact,
it's modestly entertaining and acceptable Saturday matinee viewing.
In this science fiction comedy space Western,
Cate Blanchett is Lillith, a no-nonsense bounty hunter with an enigmatic past.
She is hired by Atlas (Edgar Ramirez), the most powerful corporate CEO in the
universe, to find his missing daughter, Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt). For this
mission, Lillith must return to her home planet of Pandora, which is filled
with bad memories for her. Another complication in the mission is that Tiny
Tina has been kidnapped by mercenary soldier Roland (Kevin Hart), who is
protecting the girl from her despicable father. Soon, Lillith and Roland form
an alliance and seek out Lillith's foster mother, Dr. Tannis (Jamie Lee
Curtis), for help.
Director Roth, known for his horror
movies like Cabin Fever, Hostel, and Thanksgiving, is a
big cinephile and loves a lot of horror and science fiction films of the '70s
and '80s, so it seems that Borderlands is a spirited goof on crap '80s
science fiction, specifically The Ice Pirates (1984), Metalstorm: The
Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983), and Spacehunter: Adventures in the
Forbidden Zone (1983).
Borderlands has overly familiar
trappings, and, like many action movies of late, it has too many grand scenes
of destruction. However, it's fun to see Blanchett playing a badass action
hero, a character you don't normally see her play, and Jack Black is funny as
the voice of sarcastic robot Claptrap.
It won't change your life, but Borderlands
is better than its reputation suggests.
