There’s 2 reasons to see A Minecraft Movie. You love Minecraft. You have a child that loves Minecraft. If you don’t fall into either camp, frankly, just see something else. Jared Hess’s movie stays within its lanes, to the delight of the target audience…and hence, alienation of everyone else.
Natalie (Emma Myers) and Henry (Sebastian Hansen) are looking to start their lives over in Chuglass Idaho (shout to Hess, from that state). Henry’s immediately ostracized for his quirky crafting ideas, finding solace in Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison’s (Jason Momoa) run down arcade/trade shop. Gamer of the year 1989, btw for Garrison. In the store, Henry finds the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal, and puts them together, opening the portal to the Overworld. Unbeknownst to all these people, Steve (Jack Black) has been in the overworld for a while, and being held prisoner by Malgosha (Rachel Brown), an evil pig mining the Nether for gold, with plans to also grow that mining operation into the Overworld.
The best parts of Minecraft showcase how flexible the game’s open world is. Hess’s movie embraces that flexibility, building this whole film around the concept. I’m not the biggest Minecraft fan, but I have played just enough to recognize may of the terms and items the movie is using to flesh out their narrative. As a result this movie at its best can be a rip roaring adventure film, with crazy chases, funny gimmicks (like water saving you from a fall), and just enough of Minecraft’s weirdness to keep the die hards at least a little satisfied. I wish the movie had more courage to be weirder; we get the requisite strange food making process and the creepers, but we couldn’t get Herobrine as a scary runner? Or leaning harder into “The Far Lands” or glitches people encountered in the game? A Minecraft Movie was probably “noted” by executives to death so it could appeal to as much money, er, I mean, as many fans as possible, when it might have been better to really go harder into the game’s lore to make it something long lasting that the fans would really love.
As for the cast, they’re like the Overworld, blocks of plot to be used when necessary. Jack Black and Jason Momoa are the funny blocks, with one available in every scene, and sometimes both together. Both of them are hamming it up here: I’m guessing Black didn’t want to do any of the physical jokes, so Momoa graciously agrees to fly across the screen as a punch line over and over again, while Black dials up to Tenacious D opening night of a concert tour and never leaves that energy level. Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen are your emotional blocks, mostly dragging A Minecraft Movie down, except when you’re trying to figure out how old Myers’s Natalie is: she’s taking care of her younger brother…but she looks like she’s 15 years old. How does THAT work? Poor Danielle Brooks is the diversity block, left to sit there and do nothing, even though she’s awesome (enjoy those Minecraft dollars Danielle and do something meaningful with them). And Jennifer Coolidge is the Eyes of Ender, building a portal outside the plot to distract young kids from a scary moment with something silly and funny for 5-10 minutes total.
If my theater was any indication, take any Minecraft kid to A Minecraft Movie. I heard phrases like “10/10”, “Best Movie Ever” and “That was so cool!” Good for you kids, I’m glad you loved it so. Hopefully this is your springboard to other movies with these people, leading you to, say, The Family Switch this upcoming Christmas, or School of Rock in a year or two, or The Color Purple a few years down the road. The world of movies can be just as flexible as Minecraft y’all..if you just give em a chance!