A Minecraft Movie

“My name is Steve, and ever since I was a child I yearned for the mines.”

Absurd, ridiculous and outlandish, A Minecraft Movie thrives on the comedic chaos and zany creativity of its endless sandbox of silliness to deliver a surprisingly entertaining and fun video game adventure. 

Discussion Points:

What do you get when you ask Jared Hess, director of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, to direct a Jumanji-style Minecraft movie? A surprisingly entertaining and self awarely silly good time. Hess perfectly utilises Jack Black who fully understands the assignment. Jason Momoa is having an absolute blast! Unfortunately the film wastes Danielle Brooks, and Emma Myers gets little to do - but the films heart is young Sebastian Hansen who charms with his adorkable creative spark. The film has surprisingly great humour, with some scene stealing moments, including a cameo from Jemaine Clement and the Jennifer Coolidge side quest of absurd divorcee shenanigans. Visually, the film is uncomfortably detailed with its fleshy textures applied to the digital blocky world. It’s certainly expansive, and obviously green-screened, but the shenanigans anchor the visual mess. As someone with no connection to the video game, I enjoyed the world building and game mechanics that were utilised. I can’t believe how genuinely entertaining this was. The marketing made me expect an absolute travesty - and instead I got a crazy, slapstick, self aware, fun time! Genuine recommend!