Netflix's Top 10 just got crashed by 2024 sci-fi movie that fans love to hate

It's been quite a month for the best streaming services, with the addition of Amazon's new Prime Ultra layer and Netflix's latest price rise in the USA, and finally the availability of HBO Max in the UK.

It's also the month when Netflix added 2024's sci-fi crowd-splitter, Borderlands, which continues to divide fans of the original game series and the movie itself – but it does have its share of so-bad-it's-good fans, whose Rotten Tomatoes reviews of the flick award it full marks.

Not that the Rotten Tomatoes score tally is especially respectful. Indeed, the movie's critics score is a paltry 10%, marking it as one of the most poorly received movies of 2024. But that's not been enough to prevent the film smashing into Netflix's Top 10 Movies list here in the UK.

Borderlands (2024) Official Trailer - Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black - YouTube

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Borderlands had a massive budget, with a huge cast attached, including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Many have criticised the casting as not befitting the game's original characters, though.

The movie, which adds to a long line of poorly-received videogames adaptations, sees bounty-hunter Lilith (Blanchett), returning home to Pandora with the mission to find her daughter, Atlas (Edgar Ramírez).

She forms an alliance of misfits, as you can see in the trailer above, to help in her mission. Between the brains and muscle – human and not – her crew have to battle their way through aliens and bandits to seek out the truth.

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They also have to battle through heaps of special effects (SFX), which look like artificial intelligence (AI) has had a field day. "It's not gonna win an Oscar," writes one Rotten Tomatoes reviewer. "But it’s a good movie for wha[t] it is".

Borderlands is known for its witty characters' remarks and hyper-violence, which the movie certainly took to heart. But many see it as a knock-off of other, better movies": "They tried to make a cheap copy of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy," says another reviewer, concluding: "But it didn't work."

It might not stand much of a chance of knocking Netflix's new no.1, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, off the top spot. But Borderlands clearly has ample interest to elevate its position in the streamer's charts, locking it into the Top 10. And, for many, that'll be enough to give this sci-fi a whirl...