31 March 2025
A Minecraft Movie comes out next week, and from a film critic standpoint, the movie looks comically bad.
But, as someone who loves Jack Black, was a Minecraft fanatic as a kid, and a consumer who is very happy to go to the movies and just turn my brain off for a couple hours and laugh, the movie looks goddamn epic.
Why? The movie is fully embracing the unserious meme factor.
If you had ever asked me if a Minecraft movie was a good idea, it would be a definite no from me. It gives schlocky, IP based cash-grab, and could not be any less necessary.
At first glance, there are 2 options with a movie like this. Either you make a super basic action-adventure popcorn flick in the vein of Uncharted, or you give the movie to a genuine creative (like Greta Gerwig and Barbie) and build something unique within the sandbox that the world of Minecraft can offer. The team behind A Minecraft Movie decided to forgo either choice.
From casting Jack Black as the iconic Steve, to being incredibly on the nose and self-referential to the mechanics of the game, to crafting something zany enough that every trailer seems like a fake SNL movie trailer, A Minecraft Movie seems to be just weird enough that it might work.
Will it be good? From the reviews, it doesn't seem like it. But, people will see it, and I think it will undoubtedly be a fun time.
The movie hasn’t even come out yet and just from the trailers there are countless memes and trends around the movie. From people quoting and impersonating Jack Black’s lines, to theories about what iconic Minecraft parody songs from the golden age of Minecraft Youtubers might make it into the movie, this thing is generating buzz and people are excited to see it. And honestly, I genuinely hope it does well.
It seems like everyone involved was passionate about it, and I think that films which embrace their unseriousness should be rewarded for it. I will be seeing it on opening night, and if the rumors are true that this is the next Madame Web, then I will be happy.