First reactions to Borderlands call it a “game over”

Last Updated on August 12, 2024

Video game adaptations have long been one of the hardest forms of media to adapt. So many duds have come along that most of us would be hard-pressed to fill one hand with “great” ones. Well, it seems as if Eli Roth’s adaptation of first-person shooter Borderlands is falling in the former, as a recent screening points to it being less clap and more trap…

Tuesday saw a special fan event for Borderlands in Los Angeles, with Roth, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more in attendance. Unfortunately, it looks as though the majority of the fans themselves wish they hadn’t come out to the TCL Chinese Theater, with the movie nowhere near living up to any hype from the footage shown at CinemaCon earlier this year. Check out some of the initial reactions to Borderlands below:

With Borderlands being slammed for pretty much everything when it comes to the senses, no doubt fans of the game aren’t only disappointed but borderline disgusted with the attempt here. The question is, will fans still turn out for it in theaters? Coming out while Deadpool & Wolverine is still at the top of the charts, the box office projection for Borderlands is around $10-20 million, or around a tenth of its reported budget.

Here are some more of the reactions to Borderlands out of its screening — these ones a bit more gentle in their criticism:

Here is the plot of Borderlands: “Lilith (Cate Blanchett), an infamous bounty hunter with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home, Pandora, the most chaotic planet in the galaxy. Her mission is to find the missing daughter of Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), the universe’s most powerful S.O.B. Lilith forms an unexpected alliance with a ragtag team of misfits – Roland (Kevin Hart), a seasoned mercenary on a mission; Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Florian Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound protector; Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), the oddball scientist who’s seen it all; and Claptrap (Jack Black), a wiseass robot. Together, these unlikely heroes must battle an alien species and dangerous bandits to uncover one of Pandora’s most explosive secrets. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.”

Will you be checking out Borderlands this weekend? Do the initial reactions have any play in whether you head to the theater or not?