People who have seen the film "Borderlands" (original title) are coming out in droves and sharing their thoughts on the film as the ban on posting on social media has been lifted. Critics and early viewers at fan events have been very outspoken and candid." Words like "lifeless," "obnoxious," and "baffling" are notable. In these initial reactions, words of praise are fairly few and faint, if any.

I hope no one is surprised by this reaction: it means that we missed the large number of people who raved about the film after the first, second, and final trailers were released. It's almost a fait accompli that the wacky big-budget film adaptations of video game franchises are so widely unpopular.

"I really wanted to like it," said reporter Matthew Simpson (via GamesRadar), who continued that there was an "uninspired plot" and "some phony acting."

The film Borderlands is an action comedy directed by Eli Roth, with Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Ariana Greenblatt, Jamie Lee Curtis, Florian Munteanu, Cate Blanchett, and others from the first film Claptrap, Roland, Lilith, and others, who of course go on an adventure to rob a large amount of treasure from an ancient secret vault.

Cate Blanchett, in particular, said she probably only appeared in the film for "Cobit's Madness" because she had been cooped up at home gardening for so long.

Adriano Caporusso of Bitesize Break said that the film "replaces the mayhem and imagination of the game with a lifeless, unfunny, visually repulsive dud."

The more positive comments came from those who are clearly genre and game fans and tend to prefer "Borderlands" for its pedigree rather than as a stand-alone film. They generally noted that "the level of detail is extraordinary for someone who has played the video game," or called the film "one hell of a movie" because it "adds to the Borderlands universe."

While this probably bodes well for those looking forward to the film as "Borderlands" fans, it will not translate into success for a more general audience. We'll see what happens when the film opens in a few days, on August 9. Until then, you might want to crawl through #BorderlandsMovie on Twitter to find more reactions.