Since its 2011 debut, Minecraft has joined communities online and in real life — and its screen adaptation is no exception. While A Minecraft Movie frankly lacks substance, it earnestly attempts to emulate the imaginative verve that captivated fans of the original sandbox game, serving itself best by embracing the community that built the game from the ground up.
Released in theaters on Apr. 4, A Minecraft Movie weaves an isekai-style narrative around amateur miner Steve (Jack Black) alongside new comrades, who find themselves trapped in a disturbingly realistic caricature of the blocky Minecraft Overworld and must follow a clichéd fantasy quest to return home.
Unsurprisingly, the film meanders in a lackluster plot. Writing a compelling storyline from a plotless sandbox game already has its misgivings, yet A Minecraft Movie steers clear from the traits that made the original game so promising: creativity and survival.
Aside from sparse scenes riffing on the original game’s features, the movie barely skirts the essence of Minecraft’s limitless opportunity for creation. Resourcefulness is at the crux of the game, yet the film’s cast shies away from making the most of their new world. The film feels hastily cobbled together, drawing from random visual aspects of the game yet still overlooking its versatility.
A Minecraft Movie further shoots itself in the foot, featuring characters with less dimension than their 3D game counterparts. Black is entrusted with bringing Steve to life, but even his usual wit can’t save the character’s lack of personality. Characters with slight promise, like Natalie (Emma Myers), are sidelined in favor of Steve and Jason Momoa’s egregiously masculine Garrett as they spend half the movie trying to out-macho one another, backing the film into a pothole of corny one-liners and tired tropes.
The film’s inundation of shallow characters and its subsequent reliance on a joke-crammed script makes it clear: the movie’s novelty cruises solely on the Minecraft brand. Without its (slightly uncanny) CGI recreation of the emblematic blocky aesthetic, nothing keeps A Minecraft Movie afloat in substance.
Yet A Minecraft Movie was saved by something larger than itself. Teenagers and young adults who once frequented Hypixel servers flooded A Minecraft Movie screenings, decked in thematic costumes and with script lines committed to memory. Theaters erupted in cheers at the sight of LDShadowLady, DanTDM, and Aphmau — YouTubers fundamental to Minecraft’s early success and iconic fixtures of many childhoods.
A heartrending homage to the late Technoblade solidified the utmost respect that the film holds for the fandom that gave Minecraft its soul. Nostalgic nods to those that put the game on the map imbued the otherwise meaningless film with one purpose: spotlighting the permanence of Minecraft’s culture.
A Minecraft Movie has little merit in its script, but is best enjoyed if acknowledged for what it’s meant to be: a (somewhat misguided) love letter to the Minecraft community. At its heart, the film celebrates the IRL world behind the game’s vast online universe, marking it an at least half-decent watch for any fan.
