A Minecraft Movie
I’m a fan of Jared Hess and his Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre movies. Yes, they’re polarizing, but there’s a sense of G-rated fun that comes with them. Also, they’ve given us some pretty memorable characters. But, remember when the Minecraft Movie trailer came out and people were super upset at Jack Black? Probably because he was playing “the Jack Black character” which, again, is polarizing. I like him too (and his band) and didn’t expect people so come down so hard on him. Surely this movie about a video game was gonna bomb?
Nu-uh. It’s a total smash hit. It made almost a BILLION DOLLARS at the box office. Whatever it is “A Minecraft Movie” did, it connected with people or at least got assess to seats.
One thing this movie has going for it is the tremendous fanbase of the video game, but that’s also its drawback to me, who has never played it. For those unfamiliar with the game, A Minecraft Movie is basically 1.5 hours of Jack Black loudly explaining things that you have to take for granted. As a video game fan, I’m sure it’s a lot of fun, but as a “normal” moviegoer, this thing is a complete nonsensical mess and super frustrating. Plotwise, there’s barely one. So much so that even the b-plot with Jennifer Coolidge doesn’t really amount to anything. Isn’t the message of Minecraft one of CREATIVITY?
The casting of this movie is also pretty interesting: Jason Momoa is passable as a nerd, and the rest of the supporting cast (including Jack Black) have an interesting chemistry. Unfortunately, Henry, the main focus of the other characters, has no real arc to go through. He’s a doe-eyed kid with an adorable lisp who reads his lines like he’s reading his lines. It does make one wonder who this movie is for. Oh, right. Just fans of the video game.
There are some good laughs in A Minecraft Movie and it’s fun inhabiting this world, but I don’t see myself coming back to it often.
