Having never played the game and having no frame of reference for this adaptation, I had to rely heavily on reinforcements to let me know if the movie was true to the game. According to my nephew, there were some deviations, such as the final boss, but for the most part, he said the movie was true to the game. From my perspective, A Minecraft Movie was an entertaining movie that doesn’t take itself seriously at all, which is to be expected with Jack Black cast as Steve, the only original character from the game. Black delivers in the fashion that he is famous for, a bit of overacting and breaking out into song in the oddest moments. Adding to the silliness is Jason Momoa, who fully embraced his goofy side that we usually only get to see when he is doing interviews. Jack Black and Jason Momoa being given free rein to crack jokes and overact; what more can you ask for? Along for the ride are Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black), Sebastian Hansen in his second film role, and Emmer Meyer of Wednesday and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which explains why I’m still waiting on season two of Wednesday.
Fan of lava chicken? Well, don’t worry, you will see it, which was actually my nephew’s favorite part. Personally, I favored the bromance between Black’s Steve and Momoa’s Garret “The Garbage Man” Garrison. As I mentioned, I don’t usually see Momoa going the comedic route, so when he does, I find myself really enjoying it. Specifically, what I really enjoyed was the role reversal for Black and Momoa, where Black was the brave and selfless hero, while Momoa, despite all his muscle, finds himself having to be rescued rather than the rescuing. However, their dynamic did pull focus from the rest of the cast. At first blush, one would assume that the main focus of the plot would be on Hansen’s Henry and his relationship with his older sister/guardian Meyer’s Natalie. As Henry is misunderstood in his world, it would make sense that he would find comfort in a world where anything is possible. I expected that Black and Momoa would act in mentor-like roles and take a back seat to the dynamic between Hanson and Meyer. However, it turned out to be the other way around. While Black and Momoa both do somewhat mentor Henry, there isn’t a lot of attention dedicated to the relationship between brother and sister. In fact, they spend a great deal of the film apart. While I would have liked to have seen more time dedicated to the brother and sister dynamic, I can’t say that I hated the Black-Momoa bromance, especially when the two rocked out.
This marks the second collaboration between Jack Black and director Jared Hess, after Nacho Libre, which was released 19 years prior. Hess, most notable for Napolean Dynamite, involvement in the film began after a separate project he was developing never materialized, and he was involved by the studio to pitch a take for the Minecraft adaptation. Hess stated that he enjoyed trying to “adapt something that doesn’t have a story — it’s an open sandbox game”, and hoped to find an opportunity for a “fun, ridiculous movie”. Fun and ridiculous. I couldn’t come up with a better description of the adaptation if I tried. Hess even went as far as to voice one of my favorite characters from the film, a character whose voice didn’t match his demeanor.
The film is also filled with homage and dedications to fans of the game, to include a reference to Technoblade, a beloved YouTuber who popularized the Minecraft speedrun and made primarily Minecraft-centered videos on his channel. Technoblade unfortunately passed away due to cancer in 2022 and was memorialized for a time in Minecraft’s home screen with his motto, “Technoblade never dies”. Additionally, multiple YouTubers make uncredited cameos as themselves in the film, and one of the lead designers for Minecraft makes a cameo appearance. See if you can spot these cameos. This showcases this adaptation as a fan dedicated movie, if you ask me, so it would be hard to imagine that the diehards would be disappointed with this adaptation.
As for me, I found it to be a good time and a vehicle to just turn my brain off and enjoy. If that is what you are looking for, which I encourage everyone to indulge in from time to time, look no further than A Minecraft Movie. I’m sure that the film will be the box office winner this weekend, and given the way that it ends, I suspect that a sequel film will not be too far behind. Make sure you stay for after-credits scenes so you can catch your first glimpse of an original character that most say is Steve’s feminine counterpart.
