It has finally occurred. There is going to be a Borderlands movie, and I am having mixed feelings about it. I thought I would use this column to talk about my thoughts on the Borderlands movie trailer. This might be a little stream of consciousness, but I need to talk to somebody. I love the Borderlands series and have been playing it for years. I even played it in co-op mode with both columnist Vincent Mahoney and my wife. So, here is my initial rundown of the trailer.

So, let’s begin with watching the trailer, shall we?

So, in terms of my reaction, first, upon hearing about the trailer and the movie, there was dread. Video game movies have been given legitimacy with titles like Detective Pikachu and Sonic. Both of these movies performed well at the box office and were rated fairly well. However, the majority of video game movies have not been well received. My personal hypothesis about why they are not usually well received is because the medium is too hard to copy the tone and player experience from.

That was my first thought when I heard a Borderlands movie was in development. Borderlands is a title where you blow stuff up, and there is a story somewhere in the chaos. I will say the movie trailer maintained the lighthearted and sarcastic tone that the game has. Although it became apparent that it is not basing the movie off any particular game as Tiny Tina, Krieg, and Hammerlock did not appear until the sequel. I was mostly worried we would have another Monster Hunter, BloodRayne, or Resident Evil type of movie.

My dread was compounded seeing Kevin Hart cast as Roland. This is nothing against Kevin Hart who is an amazing comedic actor, but it feels like a bad fit. Roland was always a stoic, no-nonsense character. If it were me, I would have tried to get someone like Chiwetel Ejiofor or Mahershala Ali for the part of Roland. I understand that the movie wants a comedic tone, but generally Claptrap and Tina are the slapstick comedy while Roland is always more of the tired dad in the Borderlands series.

Initially, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Cate Blanchett being Lilith, but after watching the trailer a couple dozen times, I think she will do great with the role. Ditto with Jack Black because I think he has the chaotic energy to be a great Claptrap. Claptrap needs someone like a Jack Black or a Jim Carrey to bring the character’s nuances out. Ariana Greenblatt looks like she is going to be an awesome Tiny Tina.

Overall, I don’t know how I feel about the Borderlands movie. The trailer did look pretty awesome. I guess I still have a slight pit in my stomach because I want the movie to be good, but my faith in this movie and video game movies in general is tepid at best. I enjoyed the comedic characters in the Borderlands series (like Brick, Zero, and Zane), and how they made a first-person shooter just goofy enough to be funny. It’s a weird balance and will no doubt be hard to transfer to a movie.

However, I will do my best not to prejudge the movie. Who knows, I might even do a review of it. Thanks for joining me on this column, and I hope everyone is having a good year.

And no, I still have not beaten the final boss of Final Fantasy XIII.