I was surprised at how full the theater was a few weeks ago when we went to see “Deadpool & Wolverine,” but I was equally surprised at how empty the theater was seeing this movie only two days after its release. We had a private showing up until the opening credits when one more group of three popped in to watch the movie. By the time the end credits were rolling, I was debating if the empty seats were due to this topic being an unknown quantity to many people or if people just knew something I didn’t… in this case, just how unfortunately bad the movie was going to be. Here’s what we’ll briefly be discussing this week:

MOVIE: “Borderlands” (2024, PG-13, 102 min, watch it: in theatres only)

I adore the video game franchise of “Borderlands” and have played all four of the main ones, and loved basically every minute I’ve played a character in those worlds. The world building is dynamic and interesting, the characters are versatile, the humor is ever present and the storyline is engaging and extensive. Out of all those great elements to the game, the creators of this movie managed to only take away character names and their general likenesses.

I question if anyone who worked on the script played any of the Borderland games at all. While I’m perfectly fine with the idea of taking the basic ideas (characters, environment, locations, etc.) and making a new story out of them, I can’t say I understand the choices they made here in reinterpreting so many pieces of the stories and leaving behind so much of the character. I constantly felt like the director gave comments along the lines of, “Once more, but with less feeling, please.” Or maybe, “Can we pull back on the charisma and work in a little more cardboard, please?”

Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ariana Greenblatt have proven themselves to be interesting actors who can really bring something special to the screen, but they all seemed to have checked out during the filming of this one. Jack Black was his usual raucous and often entertaining self, making the fully animated character the only one with true personality.

I’ll also mention that despite the PG-13 rating, this really isn’t a great family movie. While none of the action in the movie is exactly gratuitous or gory, or even necessary in most instances, there is a plethora of it. A movie based on the game franchise I know so well really needed to lean into an R-rating to be successful. Instead, they went for a lighter rating to ensure younger gamer audiences would be able to see the movie.

When I set out to write this column in general, I didn’t want to post reviews of movies that were fully negative and simply tore in to a movie. I feel compelled, having seen this, to suggest people not spend money to see this in the theater, should you be interested in seeing it at all. I’ll also mention this isn’t just someone who liked the source material angry at a bad adaptation, as my wife, who saw the movie with me and has never played the Borderlands games before, was equally unimpressed with the characters and predictable storyline she saw presented.

What I’d like to do at this point is pivot from this movie to a look at a few movies I actually would recommend which use video game source material in a much better way.

MOVIE: “Sonic the Hedgehog” (2020, PG, 99 min, watch it: DVD, Paramount+)

This movie chose to blend live action and animation, and did a pretty good job with it. The Sonic game series isn’t really heavy on storyline and has some pretty simplistic gameplay, making it a fertile ground for imagination and transitioning it to a movie. Now, there is a whole world of cartoons preexisting for the little blue hedgehog and his friends and, if you’re a fan of those, you may be a little put off by this movie. However, they did a great job infusing the very basic concepts of Sonic into a real-life scenario that was fun to watch. This movie is exceedingly family friendly and a entertaining regardless of if you’re seeing these characters for the first time or enjoying the easter eggs thrown in for fans.

MOVIE: “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (2023, PG, 92 min, watch it: DVD, Netflix)

What I really enjoyed about this movie was the way they blended a “real-life” scenario with the game world, but all within the easier to work with realm of animation. Mario and Luigi are plumbers in an animated New York City who get sucked into a whole other realm and help Princess Daisy face off against the evil Bowser. Easter eggs a-plenty are thrown in to entertain fans of the games, but the movie itself is something anyone, regardless of game exposure, can get into and enjoy. There are a multitude of Mario based games, and instead of trying to take one of those and make it into a movie, they took concepts throughout and put them together into a coherent and fun storyline.

MOVIE: “The Wizard” (1989, PG, 100 min, watch it: DVD, VHS)

This one is a little bit of a stretch for the theme since this isn’t based on a video game, but it is one of the best cinematic product tie-ins I’ve ever come across. Production issues in Japan caused delays in the release of the game “Super Mario Bros. 3” in the United States, but they turned potential losses into a huge gain by creating this movie. In it, three kids run away from home to give the youngest, an emotionally withdrawn kid who excels at video games, a chance to compete in a video game tournament. What would they play? The not yet released “Super Mario Bros. 3” of course.

The movie is endearing, the characters are great and the plotline, though ridiculous, is enough to get people of all ages hooked. Sure, the impact will be quite dated as very few kids today will be all that impressed with an old Nintendo PowerGlove, but still, it’s a fun time. The movie stars Fred Savage, Beau Bridges, Christian Slater and even has the uncredited film debut of Tobey Maguire! What’s not to like?

So, are any of these what to watch for you? Usually I can find something about a movie to recommend it despite its flaws, but I strongly suggest skipping “Borderlands.” However, should you have an itch to see something video game related, all three of the other recommendations would provide a great movie night.

Kent Kraft is someone who is a huge fan of video games and feels there just isn’t enough time in the day to be able to play. He still feels bad for giving “Borderlands” such a negative review and wants to point out they did get more than Lilith’s hair correct. The game is renowned for the vast array of different and interesting gun types which have unique shooting and reloading animations, and they did scratch the surface of that particular game aspect.