Is Borderlands 3 better than the live-action movie?

The Borderlands movie recently hit the theatres, celebrating the long-time-running video game franchise on the silver screen. The titles are known for their colorful environments, unique characters, and mature humor, which Lionsgate Movies has tried to portray on the big screen. While many watched the movie having played the game, some went in open-minded to see what the franchise is all about.

Fair to say that the movie has failed to meet expectations, and the release has been review-bombed because of how it handles the characters and storyline. Gamers are not satisfied with the movie's inaccurate representation, with longtime fans of the franchise calling Borderlands 3 a better experience than the movie.

While in an alternate universe, this would have been a hot take, but in ours, Borderlands 3 is a much better experience than the movie.

NOTE: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinion.

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The legacy of Borderlands 3

The game is miles better than the Lionsgate movie. (Image via Gearbox Software)

Developed by Gearbox Software, Borderlands 3 is the third mainline entry in the franchise which focuses on a deeply structure storyline, involving never-before-seen characters and mature humor. The game takes place in Pandora, where we meet the Calypso twins, a duo on a mission to use their powers to take over the galaxy.

Players step into the shoes of a squad of new vault Hunters, as they set on an epic adventure to stop the Calypso twins from fulfilling their quest. In this looter shooter, you will be managing your skill trees and fighting enemies in first-person mode. What makes the title unique among other RPGs in the market is its humor, which keeps the gameplay and narrative segments light-hearted.

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Why the live-action adaptation fails to capture the game's charm?

The movie didn't do the games justice (Image via Lionsgate Movies)

Ever since Borderlands' cast was revealed, longtime fans lost all hope as they felt the actors didn't resemble the characters. For example, Kevin Hart was cast to play Roland; however, he looks more like a cosplayer giving a bad impression of the character. This reportedly ruins the live-action adaptation and makes it look like big names were cast to draw in the audience without considering whether they resembled the games or not.

The age rating of the Borderlands movie has also been brought down to PG13 to cater to a wider audience, instead of the mature rating like the games. This inadvertently affects the humor, as the jokes don't have the same effect on the audience as the games did. The storyline also doesn't properly do justice to the game's narrative, making the movie feel like it didn't have enough information about its source material.

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What could have made the movie a better adaptation?

The movie's jokes don't land (Image via Gearbox Software)

Here are a few ways the movie could have been a better adaptation:

• A faithful narrative: The movie mostly tries to do its own thing by incorporating well-known characters from the games. The narrative should have been a more faithful adaptation of the source material.
• Better casting: By bringing in familiar faces like Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Cate Blanchett, the movie tries to bring in an audience to see the film. Instead, the casting should have been done in a way where the actors match their video game counterparts not just terms or looks, but personalities as well.
• Mature age rating: By making the adaptation PG13, the humor also took a hit which ended up ruining the majority of the jokes. Instead, Borderlands should have retained its mature age rating just like the video games.

Borderlands could have been an amazing video game adaptation, but it fails to impress the gamers.