Video game movies have unique difficulties to overcome. Frankly, most of them don’t. Adaptations like 2005’s Doom often fail to bring in fans of the original game. In their efforts, they usually lose critics and general audiences while presenting generic, cutscene-like references to anything anyone enjoyed about the source material. Even long-running film series based on video games never quite reach a status someone might call “good” (sorry, Resident Evil fans).
The tendency of video game adaptations to flop hasn’t stopped studios from attempting them. Next up is the Eli Roth-directed Borderlands movie, and it has obstacles that projects like Doom and Resident Evil didn’t. Unlike other video games later adapted to movies, Borderlands is an open-ended role-playing game, and it relies on its story less than even other role-playing games.
Of course, the Borderlands formula has changed over the years, but think back to the game that ignited the franchise. How many players walked away from the original Borderlands blown away by the story? More than likely, most Borderlands players fell in love with the game because of its strange setting, chaotic pacing, occasional laughs, and the guns. Really it was all about the guns all along.
Borderlands made an impact because of its gameplay. Even in the later games, the story served more as a vehicle for jokes and aesthetics than as the reason for playing the game itself. Gearbox’s masterpiece wasn’t a Final Fantasy-inspired role-playing game, and honestly, no one wanted it to be. What made Borderlands great was the gameplay. That’s the element that makes or breaks any video game, and that’s the reason most video game adaptations fail.
What’s In A Game?
How can a movie ever really capture the experience of playing a game? In short, it can’t, so most video game adaptations rely on the game’s story for fuel. When the Borderlands movie finally makes its way to the big screen, it won’t have the same fallback as past adaptations. That could be a bad sign for the film, but it’s also a wavering danger that the filmmakers themselves seem to be considering.
The Borderlands movie isn’t adapting any of the individual games’ stories. Instead, it’s taking the characters and setting of the franchise and using that to create a wholly original story. To be sure, the movie will likely crib from some of the standout moments in the Borderlands franchise. However, the film is already ahead of the curve (compared to other video game movies) by taking the liberty of going in its own direction.
Following an original story doesn’t mean that the Borderlands movie has managed to avoid the main pitfall of video game adaptations. It just means that the production is aware of the problem at hand. The film isn’t going to use the thinnest aspect of the video games as the very foundation for its existence. At least in that regard, the Borderlands movie is already looking more promising, than, say, Doom.
Though story hasn’t always been a driving factor of the success of Borderlands, aesthetics has been, and a movie can deliver that in spades. Gorgeous visuals, cheap jokes, and hearty amounts of gore made the original Borderlands stand out amongst the crowd. That is a vein that a film could easily tap into and exploit to its fullest potential. After all, there’s something about seeing blood and guts in live-action that is more powerful than what game graphics offer.
A Great Movie
The man behind the wheel of the Borderlands movies may be the best sign of its eventual success. Eli Roth is no stranger to gratuitous, and oddly joyous, depictions of violence. The credits of Inglourious Basterds, Hostel, and Grindhouse, along with many other films, feature his name. Horror vibes with sci-fi comedy in the fuel tank may be exactly what the doctor ordered when it comes to this particular adaptation.
Roth himself seems to understand that fans of the game, and audiences in general, may have some wariness about seeing Borderlands on the big screen. At E3, Roth told the crowd, “We don't just want to make a great video game adaptation. We want it to be a great sci-fi movie period.” That seems to be the best possible attitude to taking an interactive world and turning it into a viewing experience.
One thing is certain: the Borderlands movie won’t capture the magical feeling of playing a Borderlands video game. It just can’t, but what it can do is deliver on every other element that has made the game franchise such a success. With a star-studded cast, a dedicated director, and healthy budget for CGI, gore, and more guns than seems sensical, the Borderlands movie can deliver an experience well worth watching. It might even finally break the trend of video game adaptations leaving nothing but disappointment in their wake.