“A Minecraft Movie” Review: A Passable Children’s Flick That Blows Its Potential For Greatness

If you were alive in the late 80s or the early 90s, you’d know that video game movies were NOT it. Cringetacular films such as “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” (1997), “Street Fighter” (1994), and “Super Mario Bros.” (1993) set the precedent that films should never mingle with the film industry, ever. And though many tried to make it work with flicks such as “Rampage” (2018), “Monster Hunter” (2020), and “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City” (2021), they still failed.

Despite this, we are entering a golden era of video game movies. The “Sonic the Hedgehog” trilogy, “Five Nights at Freddy’s”, and the much-deserved redemption of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” have shaken up the status quo, proving that games, with the proper TLC, can make it to the big screen. Now the latest flick, “A Minecraft Movie”, is on the chopping block, with many quick to dismiss the film as a forgettable cinematic experience – but is that really the case? The answer might surprise you.

The story follows a group of characters coming together in the world of Minecraft. First, there’s Steve (played by Jack Black), a human who gets bored of the real world and manages to find a way to live in the Overworld. He cites that the real world is boring and depressing, and Garrett (played by Jason Momoa), a washed-up gaming world champion, agrees, as he struggles to stay financially stable.

And it’s not just them; siblings Henry and Natalie (played by Sebastian Hansen and Emma Myers, respectively) have to move into unfamiliar territory following the loss of their mother, and their landlord Dawn (Danielle Brooks) has to juggle 15 or so jobs just to stay afloat. However, the lives of these four are suddenly upended when they are transported to the Overworld, where they must learn to quickly forget their past inhibitions and vices in order to survive. The plot largely focuses on the orb (yes, we know it’s a cube) that is meant to bridge dimensions. The leader of the piglins, Malgosha (played by Rachel House), covets this special MacGuffin, as it allows her to conquer and sack an entirely new domain for their personal use, and our ragtag group of heroes need to band together to stop her.

Ripping the band-aid off, “A Minecraft Movie” is not a very good movie, nor is it outright terrible. We are greeted with a beautifully-animated rendition of the Overworld, which is as stylised as it can be. From the wild forests to mountain peaks, the world has been brought to life with detailed chunks that are actually quite mesmerising if you sit and stare at them for a while. Every colour just pops, which leaves a remarkable impression on us while watching the film and is easily one of the highlights. Though admittedly it isn’t perfect, as there are some uncanny valley moments, especially with the villagers, that leaves a sour taste in our mouths. The immersion also has a tendency to break apart when you mesh them in with the real actors.

And yes, we’ve seen the comments on the trailer of the film, the ones that take potshots at the way the sheep and llama look. We agree that it’s somewhat unsettling, but it actually grew on us quite quickly, and we learnt to enjoy the film. To an extent, the trailer doesn’t do the film justice, as it focuses on advertising a “Minecraft” product in a movie format. However, in some way, the film tries its best to imitate “The Lego Movie”, where it lures you in with the promise of childhood nostalgia, only to shift into a film that’s about self-discovery and exploration.

There are actually some notable instances where it leans towards heavier themes, such as children forced to grow up prematurely, financial insecurity, and the death of creativity in adults. But we need to understand that this film is for children first and foremost, so, as unfortunate as it seems, it merely mentions these ideas and moves on, with no exploration. It’s to be expected, but is still disappointing, as the film could have been so much more. Minecraft, the game, was a cultural phenomenon and is wildly loved by kids and the adults who grew up on it; if the film’s story had more time to cook, then it could’ve instantly become another cultural phenomenon in an entirely new media platform. As we were surrounded by kids in the theatre hall, we couldn’t help but think that this would be their first ever movie, and it’s a shame that they might not look at it so fondly when they grow up.

Why is that? Well, for one thing, the film’s pacing is a mess; it opens several subplots for us to explore, such as Henry and Natalie’s dead mom, as well as Henry’s inferiority complex, but it doesn’t expand on it further, which is an incredible waste.  Before we’re actually thrust into the film proper, it goes info-dumping on us in the first ten minutes to get us up to speed, perhaps to teach adults and tablet-addled children what the story is about.

Of course, the movie never lets go of this heavy-handed approach in explaining the themes of the film. Lines such as “you’re so creative” feel like it’s rubbing the values of creativity in our faces, like it were sandpaper on wood. We couldn’t help but collapse into our seats from the cringe when they said the line “let’s Minecraft”. The film has a lot of cringe moments, most of which are heralded by Jack Black. We understand that the actor has a colourful musical track record, but four songs that we are randomly injected with no warning doesn’t really sit well with us. The only one that worked is the ending song, largely because the film was ending, nothing more, nothing less.

On the topic of characters, we genuinely believe that half of them are not necessary in the film. Frankly speaking, we felt like Emma Myers’ Natalie and Danielle Brooks’ Dawn are nothing more than filler characters, there simply to pad out the numbers and to hopefully create more tug-at-the-heartstrings moments that doesn’t resonate with us at all. You’ll easily assume that Henry is the main protagonist just ‘cause he’s called “creative” a lot, and even then he’s still playing second fiddle. Believe it or not, Momoa’s Garrett is easily the most likeable character, the only person to receive substantial character development. He starts off as this prideful loner who is struggling to survive, transforms into a comic relief character, and then into an actually respectable individual. If Natalie, Dawn, and Henry received similar character growth, we’d easily like them more.

One thing we do appreciate about this film is that it doesn’t really hold back with its weirdness — it knows it’s weird and commits to the bit — for that, it earns our respect. Though you may argue that it’s a kids’ film and that it’s not meant to be super deep, we implore you to give our “Wild Robot” review a read, as it is living proof that a film can be orientated for children but still have something for people of all ages to enjoy.

“A Minecraft Movie” could have easily become the next big film had it brushed up its writing a bit, but it is unfortunately, middling. It has some good jokes and gags in it that genuinely made us laugh and was a nice break from the in-your-face style of storytelling. If you don’t play the game, then there’s no reason for you to watch the movie, as you might not get some of the references scattered throughout. That is, unless you have a young kid that is absolutely begging you to go watch the film and will not stop crying until you do. However, if you played Minecraft when you were younger, we do (somewhat) recommend giving the film a try, as it might just rekindle some spark of nostalgia that might remind you of simpler times of you booting up your PC and enjoying a calming game in the Overworld.

Overall, “A Minecraft Movie” is simply a passable film that might have undone the progress of other video game films in busting the stigma surrounding the genre. Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable film if you have played the game previously, with a lot of Easter eggs and good jokes. Even if you’ve never approached the franchise before, you’d still appreciate the beautiful 3D art used to bring the film to life. Unfortunately, you have to stomach a lot of cringe moments that will often catch you off guard.

“A Minecraft Movie” is in cinemas today!