Borderlands premiered in the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on Tuesday, August 6, and will come out in theaters in the U.S. and internationally on Friday, August 9. However, the disastrous Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores hint at a rough outing for the movie.
Borderlands’ reviews call it ‘abysmal,’ ‘unwatchable,’ and a ‘disaster’
At the time of writing, Borderlands has a catastrophic 0% approval rating after 23 reviews on the review aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes. On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average to rate a movie, Borderlands has garnered a score of 32 out of 100 after 10 reviews, indicating a “generally unfavorable” reaction.
ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim has dubbed Borderlands as “Borderline unwatchable,” adding, “It may not claim the title of the worst blockbuster of the year (that honor remains reserved for Madame Web), but it certainly disappoints in its lack of entertainment value.”
IGN’s Matt Donato referred to the film as “an abysmal waste of a beloved franchise [Borderlands is based on the video game series of the same name from Gearbox Software] that takes a kooky band of murderous misfits and drains the life out of their first adventure together.”
Adriano Caporusso of Bitesize Breakdown called Borderlands a “disaster” and went on to draw an unflattering comparison between the Eli Roth movie and the original game series. “Filled with every cliché you can ponder, this film swaps the mayhem and imagination of the games for a lifeless, unfunny, and visually repulsive dud with annoying characters and a cast with not one ounce of chemistry,” Caporusso posted on X (formerly, Twitter).
The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey also stated that Borderlands was a “total disaster” and later warned the readers that the film might make them afraid of future video game adaptations.
Amidst all these negative responses, Borderlands has received a limited few positive reviews. For instance, Screen Rant’s Tatiana Hullender praised Cate Blanchett’s performance as Lilith and noted that “Roth is going for accuracy when it comes to the world-building of Borderlands, and it must be said that the movie absolutely carries the spirit of the Gearbox game series.”
As the film debuts worldwide, it will continue to receive critical reactions. And if the current trend is any indication, things are unlikely to get any better.
