Having been an avid fan and player of the video game franchise this movie is based on, I was excited to see the movie take feature film form. It’s such an eclectic franchise, how could it fit into a movie format… I wondered. So what did we get? The movie certainly had the pizzazz of the video game franchise, including slapstick humour from our friendly ‘Claptrap’ robot (Jack Black), epic visuals straight out of the game, and a pretty straightforward story.
The video games basically follow would be ‘vault hunters’ in their search for the treasures of the planet Pandora. A nasty wasteland filled with degenerate and violent people… for those of you gamers, you’d likely spot countless easter eggs from gun vendor names to characters sprinkled throughout the movie. Much like the games, the story is pretty straightforward, it’s a movie to watch for its character and characters within… and explosions, lots of explosions.
The movie kicks off following Kevin Hart’s character as an elite soldier tasked with recovering the rich guy’s daughter, Tina. Now, before we go on, I MUST point out that ‘Tiny Tina’ in the games is one of the most whimsical characters in that franchise. A humourous and zany little child that eventually spun off into her own game. Almost like a Chloë Grace Moretz in KickAss, but with more over-the-top flare. I was a bit thrown off when I found both Tiny Tina and Kevin Hart’s characters to just come off a bit flat…
Next up, we meet the fearless bounty hunter played by Kate Blanchet. She is great, no notes. She ends up being the centre of this rag-tag gang that includes the aforementioned characters and the brute of “Kreig” who is the brawn of the group. I couldn’t help but get a feeling that the group that is formed is looking to match up with a Guardians of the Galaxy-type flair.
Now with a group in hand, the team ventures to find the mythical ‘vault’ of Pandora and the treasures within. Along the way, they fight off various nefarious groups as they try to find their holy grail. In movies like this action comedy, the goal is to entertain you so I look at two factors. One, is it hilarious? it has some family-friendly humour throughout. Check! Two, is it action-packed? it has more of a PG-friendly level of violence but CHECK! That said, it hits the mark for entertaining me throughout.
As a gamer, did it hit it’s mark? it had a lot of interesting game callbacks and references, so it had some fan service. I just wish it played more into story and visuals and less into general fan service.
So would I recommend it? Sure, for a shut off your brain and entertain type of movie experience. Could it have been a cult classic, possibly… but it didn’t utilize enough of its great casting and potentially hilarious characters. This isn’t an issue of too basic a plot, as a movie like Jumani 1 and 2 was hilarious to me throughout. I think this movie just suffers from a bit too much CGI and not using their name actors to their fullest.
At the end of the day, it’s a decent movie to watch with your kids. They’d probably enjoy it.
