Since its initial release in 2009, the video game “Minecraft” has captivated players with its themes of creativity and exploration, eventually becoming the best-selling game in the entire world. “A Minecraft Movie,” an adaptation of the world-famous game, shares these themes and emphasizes them throughout the film. The movie showcases a stunning, blocky landscape filled with unique creatures and law-defying physics, but the storytelling and acting in the film fall short of expectations.
The film begins with a prologue voiced by Steve, played by Jack Black, who explains that when he went to work in the mines, he found two secret artifacts that brought him to the world of Minecraft. One day, while he was exploring the Overworld, he found an abandoned portal that transported him to the Nether, a hellish landscape filled with human-like pig creatures who mine for gold. Malgosha, voiced by Rachel House, is the leader of these creatures and the one who captures Steve in the Nether, eventually leading to other humans finding their way into Minecraft.
Although this initial sequence sets the scene nicely for the rest of the movie, the prologue felt like a lazy way to give the audience an exposition. It was more like a recap or a reminder than a prologue, and it makes the audience wonder if they’ve missed an entire prequel to the movie or if they should already have this knowledge. An extra five minutes of screen time to better portray the story or getting rid of the voiceover altogether and acting the story out instead would have been better options.
After this opening, though, the storytelling continues as the audience meets Natalie, played by Emma Myers, and Henry, played by Sebastian Hansen, siblings who move to a small town in Idaho after their mother dies. The movie also introduces us to Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, played by Jason Momoa, and Dawn, played by Danielle Brooks, who are long-time citizens of the small town the siblings move to. The audience learns a little more about each of these characters before they are all transported into the world of Minecraft.
This is a much better example of storytelling and a severe step-up from the prologue. All of the characters are given their own unique personalities, and the audience can truly feel like they know who these people are. It sets up each of the characters’ backgrounds, which allows the audience to understand their future decisions in the film.
The travelers meet up with Steve, who tells them that they need to go to a mansion to retrieve the artifacts they need to get back home after the portal closes behind them. This whole section of the movie is overshadowed by two attacks from Malgosha, and we don’t really get to see the actors traveling together to the mansion. The film skips over what should have been a fun, dynamic journey. Instead of building camaraderie or tension during the trip, the movie jumps straight to their arrival at the mansion. It felt like a huge plot hole in the story that should’ve been filled with more jokes or some other form of danger.
Other parts of the movie are also not so well done. The subplot scenes where Henry’s vice principal, played by Jennifer Coolidge, interacts with a villager that stumbled through the portal into the real world were frankly disturbing, unfunny and weird. She took up way too much screen time for the quality of scenes the audience was given. Once again, using this wasted screen time for additional prologue or more exposition somewhere else in the movie would have been a much better use.
The other instances of attempted humor in this movie, like Steve’s two singing parts, actually served a purpose and some were genuinely funny, but that’s just what happens when Jack Black is cast in a movie. He served his purpose in this film and effortlessly provided jokes to the audience suitable for all ages, although most were targeted at younger audiences. Jason Momoa was also surprisingly funny, something he’s not necessarily known for in his acting career.
However, hands down, the best part of this movie is the visuals. This can be seen the best when the four travelers enter the world of Minecraft for the first time, and the camera pans out to showcase the new world that they are now in. If there were one scene to encapsulate all of the visuals in this movie, this would be it. There are tall mountains with a fast-flowing river running through them, vast grasslands filled with blocky animals that look real and entirely fictional at the same time and a variety of Steve’s creations that fill the landscape and showcase the theme of creativity in this film.
Additionally, the climax of the film, a large fight scene between the two sides, is absolutely stunning. The way that the animators of this scene show the violence between the two sides while keeping it family-friendly and enjoyable to watch is spectacular. While monsters and pig creatures are flying through the air and fighting ferociously, the bright shine of the portal in the background against the mountains makes it a beautiful sight to see. The ending is choreographed well, showing that the battle is close until the heroes eventually pull ahead, and Malgosha is portrayed as a worthy adversary to Steve and the four adventurers. This part of the film is done masterfully and makes the audience watch in awe as an epic fight ensues.
The movie wasn’t just filled with eye-catching visuals and above-average humor, however. As with many other video game adaptations, including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Sonic the Hedgehog,” the movie was overflowing with nods to the game and the people who play it. The movie included many items from the games, mechanics such as crafting and building and cameos or references to content creators who have played the game and stuck with it throughout its decade and a half of existence. Perhaps the most noticeable of these was the pig that walked through the village with a crown on its head, paying homage to the late content creator Technoblade, who died from cancer in 2022. These references and nods to the game help the movie remain loyal to long-time fans and not stray from the way the game is portrayed.
The themes of exploration and creativity in the film also stay loyal to the initial motives of the developers of Minecraft. The scenes where vibrant mountains and forests are seen make the audience want to jump into the world of Minecraft and explore it for themselves. Henry and Steve collaborate throughout the movie because they both share a large sense of creativity that bonds them. These themes are portrayed effectively throughout the film and make the audience feel adventurous when they leave the theater.
Although the film has its downsides of poor storytelling and unnecessary scenes, it is counteracted with beautiful imagery, humor, references and bursts of exploration and creativity. Anyone who is a fan of the game should go see this movie, and it is a great movie for families, even if they aren’t big fans of Minecraft. Overall, “A Minecraft Movie” has the potential to be loved as fondly as the original game is, but there are prevalent issues that might prevent some watchers from enjoying it.