New trailer for Lionsgate’s Borderlands film adaptation from director Eli Roth introduces its ragtag team of Vault Hunters.
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It has been hard to pin down what sort of tone Lionsgate wanted to strike with its new Borderlands adaptation from director Eli Roth, but judging from the film’s first trailer, it seems as if the studio’s gunning for a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe.
Based on the game series by the same name, Borderlands tells the story of alien outlaw Lilith (Cate Blanchett), a wanted woman from the planet Pandora who returns to her homeworld in search of a fabled vault rumored to be filled with invaluable treasures.
Though Lilith knows her way around Pandora, she also knows that her best bet at finding the vault is to go hunting with a team. Lilith’s got little in common with mercenary Roland (Kevin Hart), mad scientist Dr. Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), demolitionist Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), Tiny Tina’s enforcer Krieg (Florian Munteanu), or robot Claptrap (Jack Black). But they make a solid enough squad for Lilith to bring along on her quest for glory.
You can see in the trailer how effectively Roth and cinematographer Rogier Stoffers were able to approximate the signature cel-shaded style of the Borderlands games. Between the pee jokes and shots of Claptrap having an explosive bout of robot diarrhea, the series’ grimy sense of humor seems present and accounted for. And the trailer’s use of Electric Light Orchestra’s “Do Ya” as Lilith and her crew are blasting their way across the screen makes it seem as if Lionsgate is angling for Borderlands to hit many of the same notes as Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy films.
Borderlands hits theaters on August 9th.
