Borderlands trailer called out as Guardians of the Galaxy rip-off
Uh oh, it looks like the curse of the video game movie is back. While there's been a recent resurgence in the genre thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario, others like Uncharted have been middle of the road and Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City have been plain awful.
It seems that the code of the perfect video game movie is hard to crack, and unfortunately for Eli Roth's Borderlands, it doesn't look like it's going to be winning any Academy Awards. Despite boasting an all-star cast and adapting a beloved IP, Borderlands looks like it'll be 'borderline' watchable.
Lionsgate releases the first Borderlands trailer
A live-action Borderlands movie has been in the works since 2015, but has it been worth a nine-year wait? Probably not. Having changed directors several times, it's now over to Hostel's Eli Roth to put his signature style on the looter shooter series.
Cate Blanchett takes the lead as Lilith, joined by Jumanji alumni Kevin Hart and Jack Black as Roland and Claptrap respectively. The cast is rounded off as the legendary Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Patricia Tannis, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Florian Munteanu as Krieg, and Edgar Ramírez as the villainous Atlas.
In the trailer, we see the group of outcasts band together in typical Guardians of the Galaxy style. It even comes accompanied with ELO's "Do Ya (Do Ya Want My Love?)" Throw in some crass toilet humour about P*ss-Wash Gully or Claptrap crapping lead and you've got the Borderlands movie.
Borderlands called out as Guardians of the Galaxy rip-off
Click to enlargePacked with tired tropes and predictable dialogue, the first Borderlands trailer is hardly HBO's The Last of Us in terms of its script. As we feared, the comedic duo of Hart and Black are doing what they're known for. In particular, the notoriously annoying Claptrap is even worse with Black providing his vocals.
We're not alone in our complaints, as others on Twitter vented about another lacklustre video game adaptation that looks like it's ripping off Guardians One grumbled, "The trailer tried super hard to be Guardians of the Galaxy & not enough like Borderlands to me."
Another added, "It kinda seems like they tried to do the ensemble of Guardians of the Galaxy combined with the toilet humor of Dumb & Dumber and as a big fan of Borderlands this just feels like a swing and a miss."
A third concluded, "I know Borderlands is all about being outrageous and having a particular brand of comedy, but...this just feels like it's trying to ripoff Guardians of the Galaxy. And the casting choices are weird. I like Cate Blanchett, but as Lilith? Idk."
Borderlands underwent January 2023 reshoots after it tanked in the test screenings, and with these being done by Deadpool's Tim Miller instead of Roth, it's clear there have been some troubles behind the camera. With Borderlands finally hitting screens on August 9, it looks like it could be one of 2024's real clangers.
