'Borderlands' Film's Struggles: Reviews and Beyond

The Borderlands movie, currently in its premiere week, is facing a barrage of negative criticism from major film critics, and now a fresh controversy has emerged regarding uncredited work.

Borderlands Movie: A Rough Premiere

Uncredited Film Staff Sparks Controversy

Eli Roth's Borderlands film adaptation is experiencing a difficult opening week, with overwhelmingly negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes currently shows a dismal 6% rating based on 49 critic reviews. Prominent critics have been scathing; Donald Clarke of the Irish Times suggested viewers might want to "imagine hitting an X button" to escape the film's perceived flaws, while Amy Nicholson of the New York Times praised some design aspects but found the humor lacking.

Social media reactions following the recent lift of the embargo echoed the negative sentiment, describing the film as "lifeless," "terrible," and "uninspired." However, a segment of Borderlands fans and general moviegoers appear to appreciate the film's action-heavy style and crude humor. Rotten Tomatoes shows a more positive, though still low, audience score of 49%. One viewer stated, "I went in with low expectations, but I truly loved it," highlighting the disparity in opinion. Another fan praised the action and humor, but noted that "some of the lore changes could leave people puzzled."

The negative reviews, however, are not the only challenge facing the film. A recent dispute arose when Robbie Reid, a freelance rigger who worked on the character Claptrap, publicly revealed on Twitter (X) that neither he nor the character modeler received screen credit.

Reid, expressing his disappointment, stated that this was the first time he hadn't received credit for his work, particularly concerning given the prominence of the character. He suggested the omission might be linked to him and the artist leaving their studio in 2021, acknowledging that such oversights are unfortunately prevalent within the industry.

Reid concluded by expressing his hope that the situation might bring about positive change within the industry regarding the treatment and crediting of artists.