Yet with the restructuring of certain character’s place in this space-western universe, the game and its actions provide only the merest of hints. What you are left with is a very good example of a current-generation popcorn movie. It’s fun and frivolous and the 102-minute running time flies by. And just like the salty snack that fills but doesn’t stick to the ribs, it only tickles the memory cells.

Blanchett plays Lilith, an outlaw and a complete badass with guns and in hand-to-hand combat and one who is presented on-screen under a blazing scarlet do. Her 9 to 5 is bounty hunter but when she is tasked to go on a man, or in this case a woman hunt and return to her home planet, the adventure begins. She picks up some wayward help along the way with a mouthy robot Claptrap voiced by a sped-up Jack Black and a fellow warrior, Roland (Kevin Hart).

It all feels like maybe an MA rating might have given the film’s commandos a better opportunity to really let loose and provide a more substantive experience. Fans of the video game will have more to do as there are more than a few Easter Eggs carefully hidden in some unusual places and this gives value. For the rest of us, the entertainment quotient is rather immediate and not particularly long-lasting.
Rob Hudson
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Her mission is to find the missing daughter of Atlas (Ramírez), the universe’s most powerful S.O.B. Lilith forms an unexpected alliance with a ragtag team of misfits – Roland (Hart), a seasoned mercenary on a mission; Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound protector; Tannis (Curtis), the oddball scientist who’s seen it all; and Claptrap (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. Based on one of the best-selling videogame franchises of all time, welcome to BORDERLANDS.

BORDERLANDS is directed by Eli Roth and stars Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

BORDERLANDS is coming to Australian cinemas on August 8, 2024.
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