MOVIE REVIEW | A Minecraft Movie

Before we start this A Minecraft Movie review – my first movie review in forever, BTW! – I feel like I should admit something that I feel is fairly important here: I’m not a Minecraft guy. I know, I know, it should be up my alley. And there have been plenty of times where I really wish I was into the crafting phenomenon. But there’s just something about it that I was never able to fully wrap my head around.

Call me dumb, that’s fine, my wife is probably right. But even as the father to a kid who has loved playing it for years, and having that kid always ask if I wanted to play, I just couldn’t help but feel so lost whenever I grabbed the controller for it. There was always a constant feel of “…what do I do now?” whenever I played it. I felt horrible. Like I was letting my kid down, but I just couldn’t help it. So does that mean I would naturally just not enjoy the highly anticipated Minecraft movie by default? I don’t know, let’s see. 

Fast forward to today, that Minecraft loving kid is going to be turning 12 in a few months. And while he’s not as crazy into the game as he once was, he still does get into playing it from time to time. When the trailer first dropped, I was super excited to watch it with him and see his thoughts and reaction. But of course, knowing him, I knew he was probably not going to like it. Sure enough! “What was that?!” “They’re going to ruin the movie!” “It looks nothing like what Minecraft is!” And so on, and so on. I know his initial reaction about things is always overly critical. And even though he stated numerous times that he has no care to watch it when it comes out, I just knew I’d be taking him to go see it the first few weeks of its opening. 

Lo and behold, here we are. Two weeks after release and I’m writing a review. So how did it go? How was it for him who has loved Minecraft for so long, and me, who hasn’t? 

Simply put for him, he enjoyed it. He said it was a meld of Minecraft and Minecraft Legends. That it was good, but wonders why it was called “A” Minecraft Movie and not “The” Minecraft Movie. I know, this is not much of a review on his part, but he’s 11 and it’s literally the only thing he has to say about it haha. I’ve asked him a few times and he just says it was good. There were a few more random things he added but I’ll get to those later. 

As for me? I thought it was alright! Not being into Minecraft, I wasn’t really expecting to be blown away by anything. It’s not like when the Zelda movie comes out in a few years and I’ll be like Leonardo DiCaprio from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, just jumping up in my chair and pointing at the screen at every single reference from obscure Zelda games. 

But still, I went in with an open mind. It helps that I’m a fan of Jack Black and look forward to seeing his movies. I’ve been a fan of his since 1993’s Airborne. If you know what Airborne is then we can be friends, because that is reaching way back in obscure 90’s movies. 

…Ok, sorry, let me start again. Because I just watched that trailer, complete with classic 90’s movie trailer voice guy, and had to fight myself from derailing and talking about Airborne for like 3 paragraphs. So you’re welcome. Ok, where was I?

I’m a fan of Jack Black! I love his style and range as an actor. He can be funny, obviously, but he can also be serious and still deliver on being himself. That said, the first 15-ish minutes of A Minecraft Movie was Jack setting up the whole flick. So it was Jack being Jack, and no one there to stop him… Take that as you will haha. It was very unapologetically Jack Black and at that point you realize what you signed up for. 

But then you’re introduced to Jason Mamoa’s character. I honestly don’t think I could’ve prepared myself enough for him. The colors and clothes he was rocking, the hair, the character himself, all tied up in a nice Jason Mamoa bow?! It was freaking glorious to watch! It’s like, you start it off and you think, Jack is being Jack, that’s a given. You expect it. You know what you’re getting in that deal. But then Jason swoops in and is like, hold my vodka, amigos.

There was some funny interactions between the two of them. From the bickering back and forth to more physical scenes where Jack is being a Jason Jockey (see what I did there?), I looked forward to any part of the movie where they shared the screen. Honestly, I would be rather disappointed if they didn’t do another movie together. Seeing behind the scenes and press tours for the movie gives me hope that they won’t stop their bromance here. 

Moving on, not to brush everyone else off, the rest of the cast was great as well and everyone’s performance helped bring it all together. I know I said the movie was just alright. It actually wasn’t the only trip to the theater for me this weekend, and I said to the wife the other movie I watched was better than Minecraft. But I guess reflecting on it, I enjoyed it a lot more than I really gave it credit for. Much like the game, where I don’t really give it a fair and honest chance and just automatically assume I don’t like it because it’s not in my wheelhouse, maybe that’s what happened here. 

I mean, visually speaking, it was ridiculously impressive! So much computer generation going on, but it felt as natural as it could. All the interactions between the humans and the villagers, zombies, the world in general, it looked fantastic. I could only imagine how amazing it must have been as a life long fan of the game to be able to experience it on the big screen like that. Then of course, there’s all the viral stuff going on about it. Something in particular that I won’t spoil here, but I’ll link to it in case you’re curious and don’t mind knowing about it. It was something that seemed to have the Minecraft community in an absolute craze, but it went so far over my head that I just like..

Spoilered, just in case

I even asked the boy about it and why it’s such a thing. Why, out of everything that went on, why does that specific thing such a response. And it did! There was a pop for it in our theater and it wasn’t even a full house. But I’ve seen videos that the place absolutely exploded as if it was an Avengers movie. I asked him why, and this is what he had to say.

Gee, thanks, kid! After reading that article I just linked to above (which you should, so you could get an understanding of it), it makes things a little clearer. It’s an easter egg! It’s a reference to something in the game that really didn’t have to be in the movie but it is. For me, it shows the movie was crafted (see what I did there?!) with love by people who know and played the game. And as a lover of video games and movies, that’s really all you can hope for if something you love is getting the big screen treatment. I can only hope The Legend of Zelda is done right because when I tell you I have years of ideas for a Zelda movie in my head, ooooooo they better not mess it up. 

With A Minecraft Movie, I have to hand it to them. They did a great job. They honored fans, and in the process, made new ones, I’m sure. Heck, I’d be lying if I didn’t have the urge to turn it on and see if I could finally get into it. Maybe I’ll jump into Minecraft Legends and see how it goes! No, I know, I’m not going to be playing as Jack Black or Jason Mamoa, which is unfortunate. But I’m a gamer. It’s hardwired in me to enjoy these movies and then want to explore other outlets where I can continue in the universe. This time though is one of those rare instances where the game you wish was based on the movie actually came first. 

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