Borderlands

Two decades into their box office victory lap, how can superhero films remain interesting? Well, if Deadpool and Wolverine, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Thor: Love and Thunder are any clue, maybe superhero films shouldn’t take themselves seriously.

Borderlands is a sci-fi action comedy based on a video game series of the same name. Taking a musical page from the films listed above, Borderlands wraps their trailer in classic rock glamour, remixing Electric Light Orchestra’s 1972 hit “Do Ya” for their soundtrack.

Trailers for comedy films include a lot of dialogue, often leaving relatively less room for music. Notice how in the first minute of the Borderlands trailer, really all that happens musically is a repetitive use of the opening guitar chords of “Do Ya.”

We hear those chords (D, A and G) in the first 8 seconds during the trailer’s microteaser. The music pauses for robot slapstick from Jack Black, who plays Claptrap. From 0:23-25 our three guitar chords synch with cuts to the production company logos, then to lead character Lilith (Cate Blanchett). Same three chords at 0:31, synched with shots of Lilith embarking on a mission. At 0:38 a flying monster grabs an animal off a cliff then dives into a canyon, and both of these movements are synched to the chords. Nice touch.

At 0:51, the same three chords are synched to a list of the producer’s previous film credits. But at 0:53 the band can finally build towards the first verse. But a rug-pull at 1:00 means that instead of bringing in the singing, we cut to silence as Lilith and her crew are doused with urine through the window of their vehicle. The first verse arrives at last at 1:08, as a montage of fight sequences get underway.

I have to say that watching gunshots on screen tastefully synched to the beat of the accompanying music track, as though the gun shots were innocent snare drum accents rather than deadly blasts, is somehow quite satisfying. It’s superbly done in this trailer at 1:11 - check it out. Then more explosions are synched to the beat at 1:19.

The ELO song continues until 1:33 where we cut to silence for some grotesque comedy from Tiny Tina (Arianna Greenblatt): “time to make it rain, with your body parts!” The explosions she’s alluding to, at 1:37, are accompanied by a barrage of large drums.

From 1:44-2:01 we introduce the lead actors one by one, as we hear the chorus of “Do Ya.” Each time the line “Do ya want my love?” begins (at 1:44, 1:48, 1:52, 1:56, and 1:59), one of the lead actors has their name burst onto the screen. In between each name are various lines of dialogue and gunshots synched to the beat.

The music cuts out again at 2:03, only to build back in with the song’s pre-chorus line “Never seen nothing like you” on repeat three times from 2:11-2:17 building to a showdown with the biggest monster we’ve seen yet in this trailer. But to really make the payoff for the chorus count, we have to wait until our heroes’ flying truck fires missiles through the monster’s mouth and drives out the back of its neck before the chorus arrives. This scene in particular calls to mind the flying car at the end of the notorious Pineapple Express trailer from 2008.

Of course it wouldn’t be a comedy trailer in 2024 without a final comic scene to close out with the obligatory turn phrase, and Jack Black does exactly that, albeit in the form of robot diarrhea.

Borderlands explodes into theatres August 9th.

— Jack Hui Litster