Borderlands (2024) review

Professional bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett) is hired by wealthy criminal Deukalian Atlas (Edgar Ramírez) to travel to her dusty and dangerous home planet of Pandora and find his kidnapped "daughter" Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt) - who's supposedly the "key" to opening a secret vault filled with treasures - and while there she partners with the likes of soldier Roland (Kevin Hart), beastly Krieg (Florian Munteanu), researcher Dr. Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis) and feisty one-wheeled robot Claptrap (voiced by Jack Black).  It makes sense that the producers would try to capitalize on Gen Z's obsessive interest in gaming and make a feature film out of a very popular series by Gearbox Software, but the "final product" is sloppy, monotonous and riddled with abysmal dialogue, despite the all-star cast they've assembled.  Apparently - exact details are a bit sparse at the moment - there was "studio interference," Roth's original cut wasn't approved, Tim Miller was assigned to redo large chunks of it to secure that insipid PG-13 rating, and the result is neutered, so gamers didn't bother going to the theatre and it bombed horrifically.  It's probably only a matter of time before Roth's version surfaces on streaming - until then, fire up your console of choice (or PC) and go with the real thing.