Aw mannnnnn...that was definitely "A Minecraft Movie"

Production Company: Warner Bros. (ew)

Release Date: 04/04/25

Rating: PG

Directed by: Jared Hess

Stars: Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Meyers, Danielle Brooks, Sebastian Eugene Hansen, and Jennifer Coolidge

After many months of memes and name calling, "A Minecraft Movie" has finally come out for all to make an opinion on. And a lot of people came to see this movie ($300 MILLION?!?!?). And yeah this movie seems to have quite the mixed reception. Not that that is surprising tho. We expected audiences to either absolutely love this movie or thinking it was alright popcorn fare and we expected the critics to be critics and hating on this movie. As for me (someone who is somewhat in the middle of these two camps), I found "A Minecraft Movie" to be enjoyable, but something I am never going to watch again. Let's mine!

Photo cred. Warner Bros. Pictures

First, let's talk some positives, because again, this is by all means not that bad of a movie. While I can boldly say that this was not a good movie, at least it's also safe to say that "A Minecraft Movie" was aware of how stupid it was. This was a movie that was directed by Jared Hess, the guy behind hits like "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Nacho Libre", films that weren't exactly beloved at the time but have a huge cult following due to again how absurd they are. Hess loves to bring to life such absurd characters and lines of dialogue that it is hard to ignore the commitment. While I haven't seen either of these two comedic classics, I could just feel this brand of humor just splashed all over this Minecraft movie. Which brings me to the performances, which for the most part are pretty committed. The main highlights are for sure Jason Momoa and Jack Black (more Black than Momoa obviously but I digress). Momoa has become really good at playing this loser dude archetype and he is genuienly hilarious at points; I have to give him credit for that. But the main show for most is Jack Black as Steve. I remember vividly when they had announced this casting and I was simply in awe with how ridiculous this choice was. And seeing it in action in the trailer was just as awe-inspiring. Whether or not you like the guy, you have to admit his energy is just so powerful. There is a reason why he is such a beloved person in the industry, because with every character he plays, he just puts in 100% every time. Now whether or not he was the best fit for the character of Steve is a whole different story (spoiler for that one: he wasn't), but again he is the reason why so many people went to see this movie. Audiences are yelling every iconic line of dialogue he spews out anytime he says it for crying out loud ("I...Am Steve", "Flint & Steel!" "CHICKEN JOCKEY", among others). Simply put, it's a movie you have to turn your brain off to enjoy. And that's where we lead to what I felt mixed to negative about.

CHICKEN JOCKEY!!!!!! (Photo cred. from YouTuber ShockWave)

Without any of the meme potential and the laugh out loud dumb stupid humor, "A Minecraft Movie" is simply just another derivative kid's film comparable to far more superior video game adaptations. Whoever is calling this film a legitimately good movie is a person who hasn't seen good kid's material. While I can't exactly call the CGI bad, it does look really off sometimes, which really sucks to say, because again it's so hard making a whole movie's worth of CGI. But man, do I wish this was all just a animated film as it should have been. And the characters aren't all that interesting. Steve, sure, is memorable, but what makes him such a unique but memorable character other than his energetic charm? In the first ten minutes of the movie, we practically get his whole backstory (a plot for a movie I would've loved to have seen more than what we got) and nothing much else. No arc. Nada. And other than Momoa, the three other main actors (Hansen, Myers, and Brooks) have nearly no time to flesh their own characters out (Brooks is probably the actor who got this the worst). All in all, it is a Minecraft movie crafted from the minds of greedy studio executives who care not for the story potential of a Minecraft movie, but to simply put easter eggs and references at random to appease the most obsessive of fans. From what I saw of concept art of old versions of this movie, all I am left with is sadness that I didn't get that movie than the one I ended up getting. But hey, it was a dumb whatever movie about Minecraft with bits and pieces of love for the game in there with the evidence of studio execs meddling left all over the final product. Which is why I am going to give this movie a 4/10

just cuz im petty haha

WHOOAAAAA, two posts in one week! Man, what is up with that? Anyways, I hope you liked this review! I do Letterboxd sometimes go check it out @Hugo Sydow and follow my Instagram @hugonius_zzer_2005!