Why Fans Are Worried About The Borderlands Movie

Imagine: The year is 1993. An eager crowd awaits the release of a new film that bridges a rarely-tread gap between two mediums: video games and movies. The movie: the live-action "Super Mario Bros." adaptation. As most readers already know, it was awful. This movie and many others would go on to contribute to the idea that most video game adaptations end up being awful. "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation," "Double Dragon," and "House of the Dead" are just some of the movies that live in infamy as some of the worst of all time. Despite this, a few successful video game movies have been released in recent years, like "Sonic the Hedgehog" and Mario's second attempt with "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." Overall, however, the track record remains iffy — and fans are worried that "Borderlands" will join the former camp.

Set to release on August 9, "Borderlands" is based on the hit video game series by the same name. The story follows a group of zany adventurers as they journey through the unforgiving landscape of the planet Pandora. While it's exciting to see "Borderlands" crossing into another medium, many are worried about the project as a whole. So far, "Borderlands" has had a laundry list of potential issues making fans dread the upcoming release.

To put it lightly, live-action video game adaptations don't have a great track record. While movies like the aforementioned "Sonic the Hedgehog" and shows like "The Last of Us" prove that there are ways to create a strong video game adaptation that catches on with audiences, it can be extremely difficult to take the complex longform storytelling and exciting interactivity of games and translate those elements to the big screen. Adaptations usually try to appeal to a wider audience, and this often results in a product that leaves behind the things that made the games popular in the first place. This process often results in a movie that is not only disappointing to fans of the traditional series, but also alienates regular moviegoers who are unfamiliar with the source material. 

Some fans are convinced that this is what's happening to "Borderlands." The most some gamers are hoping for is a so-bad-it's-good experience, but most don't seem to believe it will reach cult classic status, either.

The "Borderlands" movie was originally announced by Lionsgate around 2015. However, after multiple changes in the creative team, not to mention the on-set of COVID-19, the movie's release date has been pushed all the way to August 9th, 2024. This means that fans have been waiting for this movie for almost 10 years. While a delay this long may be for the best, giving the production some extra time to polish it up, it's done very little to comfort the many worries that fans are experiencing. The long wait has caused the former hype to morph into doubt. 

In many cases, significant delays like this are indicative of behind-the-scenes problems, and some fans are starting to give up hope, fearing that the final product will be beyond saving. In a discussion surrounding the first official images from the movie, one Redditor remarks, This is going to be absolutely terrible. It's been finished for like 3 years. And they did reshoots 2 years after the film was initially finished." In general, fans seem to view the big gap in the production schedule as a sign that the movie has experienced some serious problems behind the scenes.

Extensive reshoots have been one of the main factors contributing to the movie's lengthy delay. As noted above, the original shoot wrapped all the way back in June of 2021. The movie, despite having plans to release in 2022, pushed back its release date to make room for two weeks of reshoots in 2023. Though no official statement was released as to why the film needed these reshoots, rumors have circulated that the film had a subpar reception during test screenings, making fans worry that the studio is scrambling to save the project.

Adding to the concern, the film's original director did not oversee these reshoots. Although "Hostel" and "Thanksgiving" director Eli Roth directed the original shoot, he selected "Deadpool" director Tim Miller to take over for the reshoots. Fans initially speculated that Roth was fired from the project, but the studio has stated that the change was simply due to Roth's unavailability during the time of the reshoots. Tim Miller certainly has the experience to direct a "Borderlands" movie, but some fans are worried that the reshoots won't mesh well with the original footage. When discussing the director swap, one Redditor comments, "Apparently it's 'scheduling' conflicts for Roth, but that smells like BS. Lionsgate is clearly unhappy with the movie." Others have shared their support for the change to Miller, arguing that he seems to be a much better choice for the irreverent humor that "Borderlands" is known for. Still, with limited control over the project as a whole, some fear Miller's contributions are too little, too late.

"Borderlands" debuted its final trailer in mid-July, showcasing a few last looks at the film before fans are given the final product. The brief trailer shows off more of the action and humor that can be expected from the new release, but commenters have expressed feeling entirely underwhelmed by the ads. While the trailers are well-edited and full of energy, longtime fans of the franchise have pointed out a list of grievances that seem to prevent "Borderlands" from being the movie they hoped for.

Most of these fans have cited odd acting choices, story changes, cringey humor, and a generic "Hollywood" aesthetic as reasons why the preview isn't hitting for fans. To hardcore "Borderlands" players, the trailer feels like something entirely different than the franchise they've grown to love, with one common criticism being that the classic rock and overall vibe feels more like an attempt at aping Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" than an actual "Borderlands" adaptation. However, not all fan reception is purely negative. Some believe the trailer to be halfway decent or have taken a more neutral "wait and see" stance. Some viewers are cautiously optimistic, hoping that the trailer will prove to be only a small wonky part of a much better whole.

It's always tricky to cast a video game movie. You need actors who can translate an iconic character from the home console to the silver screen, all while still providing their own take. More often than not, fans have such high expectations for these kinds of films that nothing short of a carbon copy of the game's protagonists will satisfy them. In the case of the "Borderlands" movie's casting choices, reception has ranged from amused to baffled.

Many have been confused to see Jamie Lee Curtis role as Tannis, since the actor is much older than in the games. Others were horrified to learn that Kevin Hart, an actor best known for his comedic roles, is playing the more serious and stoic Roland (a character who is also super-buff in the games). Some fans are concerned the team behind the movie only cast these actors in their respective roles due to their star power, while others have gone so far as to say that they've met cosplayers who looked more like the characters in the game. Still, as one Redditor points out, "if the only real problem ends up being some 'bad' casting then we will be very lucky indeed." Hopefully these unorthodox casting decisions will pay off.

Early test screenings of the completed film have reportedly gone quite poorly. According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, who spoke with audience members following an early screening, the movie might be even worse than fans of the games have feared. In a post to his Patreon, Richtman explained that many of those who have seen it have said that the movie's humor completely falls flat. Among other problems with the script, audience members have also reportedly criticized the movie for an utter lack of character development. Luckily only a small subset of the population have seen the movie so far, so there's still a bit of hope that the film will do better with general audiences.

However, this early reaction has definitely made some fans even more skeptical. Some fans have said that they're not surprised at all to hear that the movie isn't working for viewers, while the franchise's detractors have quipped that the cringey humor sounds about right for "Borderlands." It seems a lot of people have already made up their minds about the quality of the film; the negative test screenings are just another problem in a long list of concerns.

After checking out the trailers, many fans have argued that the movie feels far too squeaky-clean when compared to the violent and often-dirty tone of the games. "Borderlands" relishes in everything over the top, providing players with extreme levels of gore and gutter humor, all wrapped up in a cel-shaded package. Attempting to take this M-rated style and translate it into a mainstream Hollywood film — one that's PG-13, no less — is an unenviable task. Looking at the footage released so far, the lack of dirt, grime, and gore just might be a dealbreaker for some fans.

When reviewing the trailers, some fans have pointed out that the costumes don't quite work in live-action, while others feel like there's too much goofy CGI on display. At the same time, the grimy dark humor appears to have been toned down a bi to appeal to more general audiences. While this may be a good thing for the movie as a whole, longtime fans of the series are seriously disappointed at how far a departure the "Borderlands" movie is from the games, with one Redditor describing the PG-13 movie as looking "sanitized and boring." 

Despite being a bizarrely complicated adventure, the "Borderlands" plot still follows a fairly linear path. The story of "Borderlands" follows a group of four travelers searching for a mysterious and legendary Vault hidden on the crime-ridden planet of Pandora. Along the way, players meet a wide variety of zany and colorful characters, some of whom align with their cause. The "Borderlands" movie features many of these characters, though fans have been confused by the ways in which these characters have been utilized. For example, while searching for the original Vault, Roland and Lillith were accompanied by fan-favorite characters Brick and Mordecai, rather than Tannis, Tiny Tina, and Krieg. Additionally, although Tannis and Tiny Tina are certainly popular characters, they acted more as supporting characters in the games, rather than primary antagonists.

While these may seem like blatant oversights to the source material, the "Borderlands" movie doesn't actually follow any of the games' storylines to the letter, acting as more of a synthesis of multiple games into one narrative. This has naturally led to some disappointment from fans who hoped to see a film that follows the story of the first game a bit more faithfully. For some of the more faithful consumers of the source material, diverging from the original narrative may just be a deal-breaker.

One of the most worrying aspects of the "Borderlands" movie is that there are so many future plans riding on the movie's success. If it does well, then a seres of "Borderlands" universe of films may not be too far behind. This could take the franchise through storylines similar to "Borderlands 2" or "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel," maybe even introducing beloved "Borderlands" characters like Handsome Jack or Mordecai and Bloodwing to the series. If it flops, then say goodbye to any chance for new "Borderlands" movies in the coming years.

"Borderlands" creator Randy Pitchford has already said that he sees this film as a stepping stone to something bigger. In an interview with IGN, Pitchford stated, "The 'Borderlands' movie is the first of the 'Borderlands' Cinematic Universe." Sadly, this optimistic announcement isn't an outright guarantee that a massive movie series is going to happen. If anything, this pronouncement just puts more pressure on the success of the first film. Many fans seem to agree with this sentiment. Reddit user Morlock43 may have put it best when they wrote, "Why? Why count your chickens before the first egg is laid? Just make a good movie and then build on that." More than anything, "Borderlands" fans seem to fear that an underwhelming movie could do more harm to their favorite franchise than anything else.