A Minecraft Movie Review

Video game movies have come a long way. From the original Super Mario Bros to genuinely inventive adaptations like The Lego Movie and Pokemon Detective Pikachu, it feels increasingly like filmmakers have worked out how to create compelling, original stories from existing games. You’d think Minecraft would be a dream for a film adaptation, offering a blank canvas on which to create an original story. Unfortunately, though, A Minecraft Movie feels like a step backward. There’s fun to be had for younger viewers, but for everyone else, this feels like a missed opportunity.

It begins promisingly enough. We meet Steve (Jack Black) as a child, obsessed with digging (and turquoise), who grows into an identically dressed adult stuck in a mundane job. He escaped the monotony of his everyday life by escaping into the Overworld, a place where he could nurture his creative side, building and creating to his heart’s content. But when he inadvertently opens a portal to the Nether – a nightmarish realm inhabited by the Piglins and their sinister leader,r Malgosha (Rachel House) – the real world is suddenly at risk.

At the same time, we are introduced to a host of characters, the recently orphaned Natalie and Henry (Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen) and former child prodigy Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa playing gleefully against type as a delusional deadbeat), all of whom find themselves convening in the Overworld to help Steve fight zombies, creepers and worse.

There will likely be a swathe of reviews saying “kids will love this, and that’s enough,” and maybe this is true – my five-year-old had a blast and already wants to see it again. But this seems a cynical way to shut down legitimate criticism. There is clearly a built-in audience for this film, but rather than do something original or innovative with the material (like The Lego Movie), director Jared Hess simply relies on non-stop game references as a substitute for actual storytelling.

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The game’s signature elements – the Creepers, Endermen, and Golems are recreated faithfully, and there are moments of inspiration, including a fun set-piece involving a villain being stopped by exploding Creepers. But for the most part, the story is disappointingly formulaic, all the more so for a game that celebrates creativity.

There are some laughs, mainly thanks to Jennifer Coolidge in a surreal side-plot that has no bearing on the main story whatsoever. Her appearance feels distinctly like that of Tig Notaro in Army Of The Dead, in that it feels very much like Coolidge has been parachuted into save the film with her wonderfully vacuous, deadpan delivery. You get the impression that she’s there for coverage more than anything, papering over cracks in the main narrative.

Jack Black and Jason Momoa both fully commit to their roles, throwing themselves into the madness with irable enthusiasm. Black, in particular, tears into the scenery with his characteristically anarchic energy and physicality (complete with impromptu songs,) but it seems apparent that in several scenes, they filmed their speeches in isolation. There’s very little chemistry or interaction between the main characters and no sense of them acting as a cohesive group or growing closer. There’s also very little in the way of character development – Momoa’s character is a former video game champion, which you might think pays off at some point, but it never does. Similarly, the relationship between the two siblings is underwritten to a fault. Myers, Hansen, and Danielle Brooks do well with what they are given, but they’re wasted in underdeveloped roles, particularly Myers, whose entire character arc feels unfinished. Her ending feels like a resolution to a plot point that was discarded in an earlier draft.

There is a way to incorporate this stuff into a coherent, engaging, vital whole. Take a film with a similar premise like Jumanji. It has humour, warmth, real stakes, and cast chemistry, all while remaining true to the spirit of the source material. It’s also meticulously plotted, with set-ups, payoffs, and callbacks – it’s a great family film. A Minecraft Movie doesn’t have any of this. It isn’t a family film because that implies there’s something for parents to enjoy too – this is a kids’ movie in the most condescending sense.

The biggest disappointment, though, is how the film completely fails to capture what makes Minecraft special. The game is all about creativity, exploration, and freedom – the joy of building something from nothing. The final coda from Black, encouraging all of us to create, is a touching sentiment, but one that unfortunately is not ed by the dearth of imagination evidenced in the rest of the film. A Minecraft Movie isn’t about creativity; it’s about cashing in on a brand with as little effort as possible.

Perhaps we’ve just been spoiled. Maybe we’ve come to expect too much of films ostensibly aimed at children. Ultimately, A Minecraft Movie is a film that kids will enjoy because they can point and say, “Look! A creeper!” and that’s about it. Instead of recapturing the inventiveness that defines its source material, it settles for a superficial, reference-heavy approach that relies on brand recognition over originality.