Borderlands Failed Because It Refused to Properly Adapt the Video Games

It's no secret at this point that Lionsgate's release of Border areas He has It turned into a disaster of epic proportions.The result was clear as soon as the first reactions came in, with reviews describing the film as lifeless, dull, and just a poor adaptation of a video game, to name a few. The result was a dismal 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and the news wasn't much better by the end of its opening weekend.

With a budget estimated at $115-120 million, Border areas The film opened with just $8.6 million, making it a real miracle if it manages to make $20 million domestically at the box office. There’s a lot of speculation about what went wrong here, but one thing stands out and has been a problem for many video game adaptations, even when they’re financially successful. Border areas It deviates from the video game source material in so many ways that it doesn't really feel like the live-action version of the game that fans love.The decision to do this is nothing new, but we have to wonder why video game movies tend to do this when the mythology in these games is strong, and changing things too much would anger fans.

Borderlands is a beloved video game with a large fan base.

the Border areas This video game was released in 2009 after being developed by Gearbox Software. The game is a first-person shooter based on role-playing and revolves around a group of four treasure hunters who travel to Pandora to search for a purported destination for alien technology known as “The Treasury”.

In the game, the Hunters collect various clues to find the vault, but the journey is filled with obstacles, including other bandits who inhabit the planet. To succeed, the Hunters team up to stop the Atlas Corporation from reaching the vault before they do. The series has spawned seven games and shipped 77 million copies across its installments, bringing its revenue to over $1 billion. With these earnings, the Border areas The series is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time..

Eli Roth had no intention of making a direct adaptation of the video game.

Given the success of the game series, one would think that a live-action adaptation of the game would be relatively easy, but director Eli Roth wasn't interested in just adapting the game, continuing a trend that was a mistake when these films were given the big screen treatment. The original screenplay is likely by Craig Mazin, the man behind the critically acclaimed video game TV adaptation. Our lastThe project was much better, but what it became after the rewrite was so far from his initial vision that he removed his name from the project.

It is clear during interviews conducted before and during the promotion of the film that Roth was more interested in using the gaming framework. to create his own version of Mad Max, Escape from New Yorkor star warsRuth's answer during a red carpet interview with Hollywood Reporter In the first show, it was very clear what might have gone wrong here.

Roth states that he wanted to stay true to the visual aesthetics and feel of the game, but notes that he wanted to play with things like casting and story to create a big, fun movie. So while many of the characters fans have come to love may look like their video game counterparts, for example, Their role in the film differs greatly from the source material. To fit the story Roth wanted to tell. There's nothing wrong with creative liberties, but a project is no longer made for fans when the story becomes so different from the material that inspired it.

The biggest problem Roth faces, which may not seem like it at first, is that the characters in the film are pulled from different parts of the games, which means Character origins and details have been changed to fit the new narrative that departs from the canonical adaptation of the first game.For example, the Vault Hunters team that makes up the team in the first game and the movie are clearly different. Lilith (Cate Blanchett) and Roland (Kevin Hart) are portrayed in the movie as they are from the first game, but Mordecai and Brick are absent from the movie adaptation despite appearing as Vault Hunters in the first game.

Tini Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) is not in the first game and is a supporting player in Borderlands 2The character has seen a rise in popularity, and her inclusion here was likely done to capitalize on that. Her connection in the game is to the character Brick, who did not appear in the film. The connection in the film comes in the form of her association with Craig (Florian Munteanu), though his intentions in working with the vault hunters are changed in the film.

Such changes don't seem necessary, especially since fans are so enamored with these games that they Even minor changes, for no real reason other than Ruth's personal discretion, are sure to turn them off.Another area where Roth made changes was in the ages of the characters, which was a bone of contention among fans of the games. The movie characters, compared to the games, are much older. Lilith is 22 in the games, but Blanchett plays her, still as beautiful as ever at 55, but much older than her game counterpart. Roland is 34 in the games, but Kevin Hart’s 45-year-old brings him to life, while Tanis is 30 compared to Jamie Lee Curtis, who is 63. Tiny Tina is age appropriate, but she is so integral to the character’s story that Roth probably felt she couldn’t be changed too much.

Eli Roth did not make his casting choices based on games.

Border areas

2.5/5

release date

August 9, 2024

exit

Eli Roth

Runtime

102 minutes

Read our review

Roth commented on these criticisms before the film's release. While he is right to cast the best actors despite their age (why wouldn't anyone want to cast Cate Blanchett?), The age gaps are so pronounced compared to the video game characters that it feels like they're playing completely different characters.resulting in another unnecessary deviation from the game. Roth claims the age changes were unintentional and used them as a way to criticize ageism in Hollywood, saying, “I think there's a tremendous amount of ageism in Hollywood, and I understand why people bring it up, but again, games are games, movies are movies, so there are certain things that felt right.” It is also clear that by doing so, the director is admitting that he was not “I'm thinking about the game.”

Related to

Does the Borderlands movie follow the story of the games?

The upcoming Borderlands action-adventure movie looks to be quite different from the original video games. Does it follow the same story?

“It wasn't about changing age.
I read the script and don't think about the game.
… I think about the movie. I don't think, 'Oh, this person is of a certain age in the game. Tiny Tina has to be of a certain age.' But for everyone else, you're talking about the best actor in the world. You go straight to Cate Blanchett, and she says yes. So, once you get Cate Blanchett, you go to Jack Black to play Claptrap, and Jamie Lee Curtis to play Tanis.”

Ruth's failure to consider the game is the fundamental problem here.which could be a huge slap in the face to fans who played and loved Border areasThe changes to the film are disappointing to fans, as they already knew what the characters were supposed to be like, and loved them, but saw them changed dramatically in the big screen format. Roth also made other narrative changes throughout the project, which led him to stray far from the source material, but this isn’t the first instance of writers and directors taking liberties with video game stories.

Video game adaptations have ignored the source material before.

unknownDespite its financial success due to Tom Holland’s appeal, it made some significant changes, most notably to the character of Nathan Drake. To secure Holland’s casting, the character was made younger in the film, but he was also given a different backstory and a slightly less confident personality. Nathan Drake in the games is confident to the point of being cocky, but his character in the film is more of a fish out of water figuring himself out. It’s a change that may work better with the film’s new direction, but it’s one of those changes that leaves fans wondering, why? Is it necessary? Sure, these changes are meant to sell tickets and be a big box office hit, but alienating video game audiences by changing things like that also diminishes the box office potential.

This is the main reason. Border areas It's a big step backwards when it comes to video game modifications.especially during the time when projects such as Our last The games in this series are praised for their meticulous handling of the gameplay, down to the smallest details. And when so many changes are made, the remaster doesn't feel like another incarnation of something fans love to embody. Perhaps there will be another spin-off of this series in the future. border To be adapted properly, with love for the source material, and not just using its essence for their own creative means. Border areas In theaters now.