With “Deadpool & Wolverine” still sucking up most of the oxygen in theaters, it was going to be an uphill climb for “Borderlands”, the big screen adaptation of the popular Gearbox Software video game series. But what has been most concerning is the complete lack of buzz leading up to its release. And when some opening weekend box office projections came in as low as $8 million, let’s just say there are plenty of reasons for the studio to worry.

I’ve played most (if not all) of the “Borderlands” video games. For the most part, the movie gets a lot right which is both good and not so good. The world of “Borderlands” is like a Wild West wasteland. It’s vast, violent, and full of chaotic comic energy. That also describes the crazy collection of colorful characters and creatures who exist in it. All of these things come alive in the movie.

But for me the games could be exhausting. The action could turn repetitive; some characters grew obnoxious; the humor wore thin. Those very same things are true about “Borderlands” the movie. Directed and co-written by Eli Roth, this $120 million sci-fi action-comedy attracted a terrific and overqualified cast that includes two Oscar winners, Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Gina Gershon, Ariana Greenblatt, Edgar Ramirez, Haley Bennett, and Florian Munteanu. They keep the film watchable but can’t cover its blemishes.

The story, penned by Roth and Joe Crombie, follows a ragtag group of misfits brought together through some convenient circumstances. A rogue soldier named Roland (Hart) infiltrates a space station to kidnap Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), the young daughter of megacorporation magnate Atlas (Ramirez). With the help of the hulking “Psycho” Krieg (Munteanu), Roland snatches the girl and heads to the treacherous planet of Pandora.

Atlas hires a bounty hunter named Lilith (Blanchett) to travel back to her home planet of Pandora and retrieve his daughter. Aided by a chatty one-wheeled robot named Claptrap (Black), Lilith eventually tracks down and confronts Roland only to learn a not-so-surprising secret. Atlas doesn’t actually care for his daughter’s safety. Tina is key to opening a hidden vault believed to house powerful ancient tech that could have cataclysmic consequences if in the wrong hands. Atlas wants her back so he can open the vault and claim the tech for himself.

So Lilith, Roland, Tina, Krieg, and Claptrap employee the help of Pandora expert Dr. Patricia Tannis (Curtis) and set out to find the vault first. But hot on their heels is the dogged Commander Knoxx (Janina Gavankar), armed with Atlas’ private army and one hideous haircut. They also encounter a gang of deranged subterranean psychos, giant titan-sized monsters, and eventually Atlas himself. It leads to a number of action sequences that range from outrageously fun to glaringly unremarkable.

Roth and company do manage to create a visually exciting Pandora. It’s covered in sand and rust, with jagged canyons and grimy cities. It’s dirty and unwelcoming yet richly detailed both practically and digitally. If only it was filled with compelling inhabitants. As fans will attest, the “Borderlands” games have been known for their wacky array of personalities. But despite adding characters like Mad Moxxi (Gershon) and Marcus Kincaid (Benjamin Byron Davis), we’re never given a sense of what makes them fan favorites.

But the film’s problems extend further. For starters, Hart’s casting is puzzling. He doesn’t have the grit to be a good tough guy and he isn’t given the lines to be a funny guy. Meanwhile an insufferable Jack Black stays cranked up to ten and is really hard to endure. And it doesn’t help that Atlas is just another bland corporate villain. Add in the cobbled together and mostly empty story, and you have a movie that captures the look of the video games more than the spirit that made them so successful.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS