With over 200 million monthly players, Minecraft is one of the most popular video games on the planet. Inevitably, this meant studios would try to capitalize on the game with a film, aptly named “A Minecraft Movie,” which was released on April 4.
Unlike most in the theater audience, I am not a bona fide fan of the game. So, going in, I had an open mind but no emotional connection. However, after watching it, I frankly thought it was one of the worst films I have ever seen. It was unoriginal, lazy and utterly insufferable.
The film opens with a gaggle of misfits that gets sucked into the Minecraft world by an Orb, which opens a portal. The group features a broke video game salesman, played by Jason Momoa; two orphaned siblings, an older sister Natalie, played by Emma Myers and younger brother Henry, played by Sebastian Hansen; and a dissatisfied real estate agent Dawn, played by Danielle Brooks.
Once teleported into the Minecraft world, they meet Steve, played by Jack Black, who guides them to find a corresponding part to the Orb that would reopen the portal back to Earth.
Immediately, I found obvious similarities to the “Jumanji” sequels, where a group of people get trapped in a video game, and the plot of the movie is them trying to get out. This unoriginality would have been forgivable if the film had been otherwise good, with creative acting and writing, but, unfortunately, it was not.
The only major positive aspect of the film is its interesting depiction of the Minecraft world, which is portrayed with decent live-action Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI). Initially, it was off-putting how real people awkwardly interacted with a block world. This feeling eventually faded, but it still prevented the visual effects from being captivating.
For a film that tries to communicate to children the importance of creativity, it was written lazily. The whole script felt ostentatious, desperately trying to entertain children with crude, unfunny jokes rather than telling a convincing story. There was nothing to keep audiences emotionally invested in the characters, making it impossible for the actors and actresses to move viewers or even provide comedic relief.
Rarely do I find myself checking my watch during a movie, but the film was so unbearable that I couldn’t help myself as time went by slowly. The young children who made up the majority of the audience constantly erupted into raucous, albeit ironic, laughter and applause as their parents blankly watched. So, besides avid Minecraft players or anyone watching with a youngster, I would stay away from this movie.
