Who would have thought that David Lynch would inspire a video game adaptation portrayal?
Jack Black cited the auteur as a reference for his take on bringing his “Borderlands” character, android Claptrap, to life. Black voices the droid, and channeled his best Lynch impression while in the recording booth.
“It’s kind of a weird reference, but David Lynch. It’s a little old Americana, but he’s also got a twisted, surreal look on the world,” Black told Entertainment Weekly about his take on the tone for Claptrap.
Black added that the “Borderlands” GearBox video game fully embodies his “favorite genre” to play.
“It captured the energy of my favorite genre, which is post-apocalyptic action-adventure,” Black said. “‘Road Warrior’ comes to mind.”
“Borderlands” director Eli Roth compared his film adaptation to cult classics “Escape from New York” and “The Fifth Element.”
“I wanted to make something totally bonkers and bat-shit crazy, that has the insanity of ‘The Fifth Element‘ or ‘Escape From New York,’” Roth told the outlet. “I think there’s a spirit of anarchy and absurdity in the game. I wanted the movie to have that same spirit as well: a movie completely made by lunatics.”
Black’s co-star Cate Blanchett agreed with the “insanity” part at least. The Oscar winner previously told Empire that she joined the ensemble cast partially to escape her “COVID madness” of quarantine.
“The crazy asks are usually the things I gravitate towards; the things I could never conceive of,” Blanchett said. “I think there also may have been a little COVID madness — I was spending a lot of time in the garden, using the chainsaw a little too freely. My husband said, ‘This film could save your life.’”
Blanchett familiarized herself with the game before bringing leader Lillith to the screen. The character assembles a crew of ragtag space mercenaries, played by Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Arianna Greenblatt, and Kevin Hart.
“My thumbs can barely control a phone, but I bought a PS5 and we played each other,” Blanchett said. “I wanted to know the limits of the game and what fans loved about the character. I got really absorbed in that whole world: the cosplayers, the YouTube make-up tutorials.”
