Movie Dream Team: BORDERLANDS
It's been several weeks since our last Movie Dream Team post, so let's make this a good one.
Borderlands is one of my favorite video game franchises. It's wacky, completely insane, and just the right amount of violent. The Borderlands franchise doesn't sit alone in this type of game, nor would it sit alone in this type of movie. Picture Mad Max, but with a lot more humor, and more guns. A lot more guns. The beauty of this franchise being turned into a movie series is that you don't have to take anything too seriously. Do you want a shotgun that shoots exploding rounds? Go for it. Do you want a pistol that shoots acid? We got it. The whole point of the game is utter insanity, with a boat load of guns and crazy abilities and the best part is, you can definitely make a series of it. Cover the first game, then go on to the second. With the little amount of cohesive stories between games, you can do a lot with it without feeling bogged down by what's come before. But let's get into it.
THE PLOT
The story for Borderlands is pretty simple: get stuff, kill some people, beat giant extra-dimensional monster. Just your average Tuesday, really. But in Borderlands, you play as a Vault Hunter, which is a really big scale treasure hunter. There's a legendary place, called The Vault, which is said to contain untold amounts of treasure. But nobody knows what kind of treasure — maybe money, maybe guns, maybe a giant space monster, who knows. So you progress through the story by collecting pieces to the Vault Key. Along the way you meet some fun people, some betrayals occur, there's a prison break...it's all very simple. But that's the beauty of it. The story is so simple, you can really skim over most of the unimportant NPCs and just focus on collecting the vault key pieces, and the main antagonist, Commandant Steele. The plot is so simple, you could comfortably fit it into a 90 minute movie.
THE DIRECTOR
This really is a simple choice. James Gunn. Remember Guardians of the Galaxy? That was this beautiful bastard. Gunn understands how to take strange characters and story elements and make them work in a way that's fun and enjoyable to watch. He would also be ideal for adapting the game into a workable screenplay. He's a master of simple, fun stories that capture the imagination, and really make you love a bunch of characters that you normally wouldn't care about. Like, I don't know, a talking raccoon?
THE CAST
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Brick
Do you need a guy that's gonna primarily punch his way through the opposition? It's Brick, and who better to portray a mountain of a man whose hobbies include punch, shooting, and just generally causing a mess, while saying very little than The Mountain himself. Hafþór has shown through his run on Game of Thrones as the infamous sword of the Lannisters that he can do big and intimidating very well, while still being able to portray a character that you want to watch and be involved with.
Keanu Reaves as Mordecai
Have you seen John Wick? If you have, then this makes total sense to you. If not, I'll break it down. In John Wick, Keanu plays Mordecai: serious (almost to a fault) but with just the right amount of snark. Not to mention Keanu definitely showed that he can do visceral, sometimes graphic action scenes extremely well while still managing a great level of realism to his gunplay. Obviously a lot of that has to do with direction but we've got that wrapped up. Keanu could bring a beautiful seriousness to this character, and portray the assassin we need.
Idris Elba as Roland
This was an easy choice for me. Roland is the leader of the team and is probably the most serious one of the bunch. I'll point you to Pacific Rim as a prime example of this. Idris can definitely handle the strong-willed leader that Roland becomes, and he can show us the seeds of that in this film before coming back to handle the role for Borderlands 2.
Isla Fisher as Lilith
I had the toughest time casting Lilith. Who could be serious at times, but also handle the wackiness that Lilith is both surrounded by and contributes to? She's goofy and funny, but still heartfelt. But who could also grow with the character, becoming the badass Siren that she is in the sequel? Answer: Isla Fisher. Her comedic acting chops have certainly been shown time and again, but her performance in Now You See Me is what sold me on this. She shows some leadership, some badassery, and quite a bit of sassy tenacity. That's Lilith. Plus, being a natural red head doesn't hurt.
Emily Blunt as Commandant Steele
Emily Blunt is PERFECT for this role. She can play the
That's that as far as Borderlands go. Who do you think would fit better for these roles? Let us know in the comments! I'll be giving you my Dream Team for Borderlands 2 in the next couple weeks, so keep an eye out for that.
To read our previous Movie Dream Team posts click on any of the following links: Movie Dream Team: SAMURAI JACK , Movie Dream Team: MORTAL KOMBAT and Movie Dream Team: CAPTAIN N.