‘A Minecraft Movie’ has something for everyone

In the last year, perhaps even the last few years, no movie has had as wide of a target audience as “A Minecraft Movie.” When Mojang first released the game in 2011, the age range of players was almost unheard of for a video game other than Super Mario. First graders and 30-year-olds alike were building houses out of trees and mining for diamonds in their own virtual realms. Today, there are college kids still trying to defeat the Ender Dragon, just like they were in elementary school. And every one of these groups who make up the video game’s audience, are now going to the theater in droves to see Minecraft come to life.

It’s incredibly difficult for a movie to appeal to such a wide demographic of people at once, and director Jared Hess seems to know it. The film opens with Steve (Jack Black), abandoning his life on Earth in favor of the Overworld, the cube-based Minecraft world gamers have come to love. Steve swiftly learns how to build and manipulate the terrain before getting imprisoned by Malgosha (voiced by Rachel House), the ruler of the Nether. Before long, four more humans — with distinct enough personalities to resemble a Gen Alpha Breakfast Club — enter the Overworld. And with them, they bring the Orb of Dominance, Malgosha’s true desire. These plot points, along with the few brief scenes that take place on Earth, are the only aspects of the film written for anyone above the age of 14. In a smart directorial move, Hess fully commits to quips and gimmicky characters that adults might find grating but kids will surely enjoy. 

Hess stays loyal to the game throughout the film, throwing in as many creatures and references as possible in the movie’s short 100-minute-long runtime. The film has all the Minecraft basics — including creepers, zombies, villagers and rapid day-to-night cycles, just to name a few. Even the most novice Minecraft players would have encountered these in the game. But Hess throws in a few references — like chicken and spider jockeys, evading an Enderman’s gaze and breaking a fall with a water bucket — for the more eager, dedicated fans. On top of that, the visuals are detailed and stunning. Every location in the film, from the village to the Nether, looks incredibly similar to its counterpart within the game. It’s true that the meme-riddled dialogue pushes the limits of what might be enjoyable for an older audience, but even if you can’t find enjoyment in what’s spoken, Hess’s commitment to recreating the Minecraft experience, both visually and in the story, is undeniably impressive.

Outside of world-building, Black is the highlight of “A Minecraft Movie.” There is no other actor, now or ever, who could have played the role of Steve with as much dedication, force and energy as Black. Considering the original Steve has no personality whatsoever, the task of embodying him onscreen seems almost impossible. But Black brings a default skin — essentially just clothes — to life in a way that makes audiences remember how they felt playing Minecraft. His performance is undoubtedly current, full of one-liners, weird songs and superhero-esque action, but it evokes a bit of nostalgia too. Strangely enough, watching Black wholeheartedly sing about chicken is out of this world, in all senses of the phrase.

All of this seems rather dramatic for a movie about building houses with cubes of dirt and sheep’s wool. Because Minecraft is a fun game, everyone was expecting a fun movie, and that’s largely what it is. But the film also is a trojan horse for a supposedly dying art form: Out of all the content that has come out this year, this movie is the only one that sparks the desire to dream, to have fun and to live. “A Minecraft Movie” asks us to create. Whoever you are, wherever you are, creativity is what makes us human.