I have spent countless hours immersed in the worlds created by Gearbox Software and 2K Games in their 'Borderlands' series.

The game's addictive structure encourages exploration, teamwork, and the constant pursuit of new weapons to use against waves of enemies.

I've written about this in various places.

While these games can be undeniably repetitive, as they are based on the concept of loot farming (which involves searching for better and better gear), they also feature a massive world filled with truly memorable characters like Claptrap, Mad Moxxi, Tiny Tina, and Handsome Jack.

The primary setting, the planet Pandora, is inhabited by everything from dragon-like creatures to masked enemies resembling suicidal maniacs.

The game is filled with creative design choices and clever plotting, often incorporating jokes and twists that evoke an old-fashioned, almost Vaudevillian sense of humor.

It's reminiscent of a blend between 'Mad Max' and 'Monty Python.

'My biggest concern after watching the abysmal 'Borderlands' movie is that it will tarnish the legacy of a pop culture franchise that deserves better.

None of the elements that make the games work have been successfully adapted into this ugly, boring, and truly inept piece of filmmaking.

The movie, which was mostly shot years ago, should have been shelved indefinitely.

Cate Blanchett, who made this film before 'TAR' and before Eli Roth made 'Knock Knock,' stars as Lilith, one of the beloved Vault Hunters from the video game.

In this version, Lilith is a bounty hunter approached one night by employees of the all-powerful Atlas Corporation, who offer her a high-paying job.

When Lilith is swayed by the amount of money Atlas is willing to pay for the gig, I couldn't help but laugh, hoping that Blanchett also received a life-changing amount of cash to star in a project so far below her talent level.

The job is to find Tina, the daughter of Atlas, who has been kidnapped by another classic video game character named Roland, a soldier who has gone rogue and escaped to Pandora with the girl and a 'Psycho' named Krieg.

Tina may hold the key to a legendary vault on Pandora, which has created an entire industry of treasure hunters trying to find it.

Upon returning to her home planet of Pandora, Lilith encounters a robot named Claptrap, who serves as comic relief.

This would imply that there is actual comedy in the film, but there is not.

Just endless rambling.

Fans of the game will notice other familiar characters like Moxxi and Tannis.

According to some published credits, Scooter and Hammerlock also make appearances, but they are easy to miss.

Lilith, Roland, Tannis, Claptrap, and Krieg should be an obvious variation on the Guardians of the Galaxy, outcasts on a distant planet who must use their different strengths to save the day as a team.

However, the script by Roth and Craig Mazin is uninterested in giving them memorable traits.

Blanchett is such a great actress that she manages to sell a little bit of this shallow screenplay with a smirk, but Kevin Hart looks visibly bored at times, perhaps overwhelmed by the reshoots that led to many of the delays in the film's release.

The script for 'Borderlands' was once credited to Mazin, the genius behind 'Chernobyl' and 'The Last of Us,' but he has since removed his name from the film after the reshoots.

When a film goes through that much turmoil, it is usually evident in the final product, which often feels like a Frankenstein's monster pieced together.

One can imagine a Mazin version that puts more love and care into the world-building than this version, but very little of that has made it to the final cut.

Part of the reason the film fails in this regard is that Roth, a director I have defended in the horror genre a few times, is remarkably inept at directing action.

When the film bursts into gunfire, calling these sequences incoherent would be polite.

I'm not sure if the cinematographer or editors deserve some of the blame, but the fight scenes are baffling in their construction.

They are cut in a way that makes it impossible to understand the geography of an action scene or to care about what happens in them.

It may sound picky, but a movie based on an action video game needs to at least provide visceral, escapist entertainment in the guns-and-punches department.

There isn't a single memorable action beat in this movie.

Not one.

After decades of being considered poison for creative artists, video game movies have earned something of a commercial and critical reappraisal in recent years.

A critical darling like 'The Last of Us' and a commercial hit like 'Sonic the Hedgehog' mean that Hollywood has found a new vein of beloved intellectual properties to tap into, and they are going to make all of your favorite games into movies.

As my mind wandered during the mid-section of 'Borderlands' to other games I love, and how similar projects could ruin my affection for them, I had a vision of Eli Roth's 'Elden Ring.

' I almost started to cry.

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.

com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games.

He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.