Online buzz for “A Minecraft Movie” has been intense. Since the trailer dropped, the movie has been met with heavy criticism from the Minecraft community. In a surprising twist of fate, the movie has come full circle and is being celebrated by players worldwide.
In “A Minecraft Movie,” a ragtag group of “roundlings” find a cube that takes them to the Overworld, where they meet Steve (Jack Black), who has lived and built in this world for years. Together, they try to evade the evil piglin sorceress Malgosha (Rachel House) and obtain an earth crystal that will allow them to get back home.
Ava Knox, Pocket Edition expert, faces off against Zee O’Donnell, chronic loot goblin, to give you their takes on “A Minecraft Movie.”
Ava Knox | Creative Mode Crusader
4 out of 5 stars
I went into “A Minecraft Movie” completely blind. I tried to avoid trailers, social media and even the game itself to see if the film would be able to tap into my nostalgic memories and deliver on its promise to bring the greatest game ever made to the big screen. It most certainly did.
“A Minecraft Movie” knows exactly what it is, and that self-awareness allows it to free itself from the restrictive conventions of the industry, like passably coherent plots, genre consistency and … lack of emphasis on Jason Momoa’s butt cheeks. Enjoying this movie is easy, but it comes with a prerequisite: don’t think too hard.
Black and Momoa are the true stars of this show. They fully embrace the silliness of the movie. These guys were obviously having a good time, which makes the viewers have fun, too.
While it can venture into “random = funny” territory at times, “A Minecraft Movie” still manages to be genuinely hilarious. The use of unapologetically dumb internet humor and slapstick comedy was enough to make even this old curmudgeon chuckle. They even made product placement funny!
Highbrow humor aside, this film offers excellent visuals. Following the release of the first trailers, my fellow crafters flocked to social media to express their dissatisfaction at the film’s live-action and CGI components. I am pleased to report that “A Minecraft Movie” provides an appealing visual experience that proves them wrong.
The film also pays a sweet tribute to Technoblade, a Minecraft YouTuber who sadly passed away from cancer in 2022. The acknowledgment of an individual who elevated Minecraft to what it is today was a touching moment from Mojang.
One of the only issues with this movie is that it falls victim to “group project acting:” the stiff, “I’m-being-funny-on-purpose” performances you might see in hodgepodge video presentations in one of your classes. The humor feels self-conscious at times, like the actors (excluding Black) know what they are saying is dumb.
Additionally, the brother and sister characters — Henry (Sebastian Eugene Hansen, “Just Mercy”) and Natalie (Emma Myers, “Wednesday”) — feel irrelevant to the plot. Both are given hasty backstories and minimal character development. Henry’s crisis of confidence and Natalie’s anxiety about protecting Henry were odd, unnecessary additions to the film.
Black and Momoa shine so brightly that they eclipse some of the other actors and certain aspects of the story. Spending less time on Henry and Natalie and more time on Black and Momoa’s dynamic would have made the bizarre plot easier to digest.
A warning to any prospective viewers: the audience is a part of the experience for this one. If you prefer quiet theaters like I do, pick a later showing.
“A Minecraft Movie” is the biggest thing to happen to the pre-teen boy community since the OG Fortnite map came back. Judging from their applause alone, I expect this film to go platinum. Watch this movie, and soon. In the words of Steve, “Let’s Minecraft.” (Yes, this is an actual quote from the film).
Zee O’Donnell | Survival Mode Sweat
5 out of 5 stars
This was the most enthusiastic theater-going experience I’ve ever had, even topping Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour.” “A Minecraft Movie” knows its audience. From jokes about children yearning for the mines to chicken jockeys to always building a dirt house the first night in the world, the screenwriters didn’t just understand the game: they understood the community.
This was highlighted by the tribute to Technoblade. Despite his death, he still holds 18.3 million subscribers on YouTube.
His famous catchphrase — “Technoblade never dies” — from playing competitive games on Hypixel, a popular Minecraft server, has proven to be true as his legacy lives on. “A Minecraft Movie,” including a scene depicting a pig in a crown that Steve describes as “a legend,” was a beautiful tribute for fans.
Every time an iconic line in the movie was said, the audience all recited it in unison and cheered. Whenever Black broke into some Minecraft-inspired song, they cheered. The most heartwarming moment was hearing everyone yell “Technoblade!” and “Technoblade never dies!” after his tribute in the movie.
Technoblade wasn’t the only famous Minecraft YouTuber to make it into the movie. Hermitcraft members Mumbo Jumbo and LD Shadow Lady and Youtuber DanTDM all had cameos in an early storage unit auction scene. Multiple Minecraft YouTubers were invited to the movie premiere, including Captain Sparklez and TommyInnit. Minecraft has always been popular because of the YouTube community around it, and they honored that throughout their filmmaking process.
The content was surprisingly accurate to the game mechanics. The scene where they traveled along a railroad with powered rails was a personal favorite of mine. Another was Steve’s water bucket scene, where he tries to land safely throwing a water bucket down at the last second.
One thing that really bugged me was the creepers. Creepers explode when in close proximity to a player. The movie had them only explode when attacked first, which defeats the original scary uncertainty of them in the game.
I truly do feel represented by Black’s narrative in this movie. I, too, mine 5 million diamonds in Minecraft just to hoard them and do nothing with them on every server I play. Watching him unveil secret stashes of random end-game gear he never uses felt like the screenwriters stole the pixels right off my PC. I am the Minecraft player who gets end-level gear, then spends all my time on some random project like chopping down 10,000 trees until the server dies off.
“A Minecraft Movie” is successful because it isn’t afraid to be cringy. This is for an audience who laughs hysterically when Black says, “Let’s Minecraft,” and shouts “Where are your pants?” when he appears on screen in a full set of armor sans leggings.
I have one wish, and it’s that they would have ended the movie the same way it started. It began with the loading screen you typically see when loading a new world. It would have been brilliant to end it by navigating to the exit button in the menu.
Watch this movie, and I promise you won’t miss the rowdy crowd anywhere. The phenomenon of teenage boys and young adults showing up and showing out at theaters spans nationwide. Seeing it with other fans is a worthwhile experience. If you were a fan of the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie, you’ll be a fan of “A Minecraft Movie,” too.
“A Minecraft Movie.” Photo courtesy of The Quaker Cinema.