By Katelyn Shields

Get excited. The most anticipated film of the year has finally been released – A Minecraft Movie.  

The film acts as the first movie adaptation of the massively popular sandbox game Minecraft, in which players build, mine and farm in a virtual world made of blocks and plagued by monsters at night. The game is what you make it – some play in creative mode and fly around their world building castles and block art, others play hardcore survival mode and try to defeat the Ender Dragon to “win” the game, and some destroy friendships as they blow up each other’s bases with TNT in multiplayer. In this way, Minecraft is a game for everyone.  

A Minecraft Movie is directed by Jared Hess, who also produced the 2004 comedy, Napoleon Dynamite. Warner Bros. Pictures made the adventure/comedy with a budget of $150 million. 

The cast includes high-profile actors, including Jason Mamoa and Jennifer Coolidge. Of course, Jack Black plays the Minecraft protagonist Steve, who plays in the game control. The news shocked no one following his last stint as Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.  

However, before its release, the movie was not well received by critics and the public, as many were left confused and concerned over the film’s quality. If you’re just as confused as the rest of us now that it’s been released, here’s a breakdown of what’s happening with this film amidst all the chaos.

A Minecraft Movie follows an incredibly predictable storyline – 4 “misfits” are pulled into another world from the familiar “real world.” This, of course, is the world of Minecraft. To return home, they must master the terrain while embarking on a “magical quest” alongside crafter Steve. This film is Jumanji, but it uses Minecraft instead of a board game.  

The first trailer was released in September 2024. In its first two weeks online, the video received a shocking 1.6 million dislikes on YouTube. Since then, many more clips and promotional material for the movie have circulated online, including a clip of what appears to be Jennifer Coolidge on a date with a Nitwit Villager (a villager in Minecraft who cannot get a job). 

The film has mainly received criticism for its visuals and writing, widely compared to an SNL sketch. However, the criticism has unexpectedly affected its popularity, as audiences now want to see the movie more than ever for its seemingly stupid humour. As a result, A Minecraft Movie has broken several box office records, including becoming the highest-ever first-weekend total for a video game adaptation and the second-biggest movie of the year behind Captain America: Brave New World. 

A Minecraft Movie: A Review 

On Thursday, April 3rd, I saw A Minecraft Movie on its very first day in Australian cinemas. Like most other attendees, I had absolutely no idea what kind of film I was truly walking into, but I was excited nonetheless. I took my seat in a cinema filled half with children and half with young adults and proceeded to watch one of the strangest movies I’ve ever seen.  

Personally, I have to say Jason Mamoa’s character, Garret Garrison (or “Garbage Man”) was the highlight of this film for me. He delivered exceptional acting, as always, of a character that added great comedic relief (or maybe I have an immature sense of humour). The on-screen chemistry between Mamoa and Jack Black worked very well for the comedy style of the movie, and it was obvious Black had improvised a little with some of the sly jokes targeted towards the adults in the audience. However, I have to say the rest of the main cast seemed incredibly dull. Not only was I not entirely convinced of the actors’ performances, but the characters themselves lacked personality and depth. The movie presented them as merely the protective older sister, the creative & bullied younger brother, and the girl who worked with animals. The movie's main villain, Malgosha, a Piglin mob who seemingly rules over the Nether, had more depth as a character but had a confusingly Kiwi accent (considering everyone else in the movie had an American one). Another villain, General Chungus, was also a confusing character as it seems he was intended to be polite and funny, but ended up as an off-putting character who tells the main cast he’s going to “unalive” them. Jennifer Coolidge’s on-screen romance with the Nitwit villager she hit with her car was also a highlight of A Minecraft Movie. I only wish this part of the story got more screen time, as arguably the movie's best scene was the final one as the credits began to roll.  

Some of Jack Black’s lines in this film have also become memes online and, as a result, have received applause and loud reactions from audience members worldwide as they appear on screen. Most notably, videos of Black saying “Chicken Jockey” and “Flint and Steel” have been circulating online as audience members have tremendous reactions. I was unaware of this when seeing the film, and I have to say it took me by surprise when an otherwise quiet audience started clapping and cheering after Black said the iconic line “I am Steve.” The movie also received massive applause in my screening at the end of the final scene, and it was impossible not to join in on this hilarious experience, as we all felt bonded from watching whatever that was.  

Finally, a post-credits scene left the audience on a cliffhanger as Steve returned to his old house from before he entered the Minecraft world. Opening the door was none other than the female main character from the game, Alex, played by Kate McKinnon. Does a scene of these characters meeting allude to a second Minecraft movie featuring Alex? Or was this just another video game reference the makers wanted to throw in for the sake of it? Either way, I think this was a nice addition to the movie, but I only wish Alex had a role in the actual film. 

Overall, A Minecraft Movie was an unsurprisingly strange experience, but one that I can’t say I didn’t enjoy. However, a child throwing up in the theatre towards the film's end tainted the experience. It reminded me that I was watching a movie surrounded by children overly excited by fight scenes and the sugar they were consuming.  

The Minecraft Movie Impact 

It turns out that A Minecraft Movie has also had an extremely positive outcome for Mojang Studios. The film prompts many Gen Z and younger Millennials to return to the nostalgic block-filled world as they attempt to relive their childhood. It also seems to have brought the beloved video game to a new audience, becoming widely popular again amongst Gen Alpha (as shown by the film’s vomiting audience). 

Leading up to the film’s release, Mojang Studios also announced several new and exciting features in Minecraft’s next update, 1.21.6, likely to be released sometime in June 2025. This latest update notably includes new mobs (creatures who move around in the game), such as Happy Ghasts, which players can ride worldwide. These mobs evolve from ghastlings when looked after by players, from dried ghasts found and collected by players in the Nether.  

A Minecraft live event has also been created in celebration of the movie’s release, in which players can play alongside characters from the film as they assist in their quest to master the terrain. In providing players with a new online Minecraft experience for a limited time, as well as announcing exciting new features coming to the game, Mojang Studios has effectively capitalised on the buzz surrounding the release of A Minecraft Movie. I, along with many others, have recently fallen back into the phenomenon of another 2-week Minecraft phase, so it would seem Mojang Studio’s marketing ploy is, in fact, working. 

This has only been further enhanced by the introduction of McDonald’s new Minecraft-themed happy meals and the adult “Minecraft Meal.” These have become widely popular amongst both children and young adults, as they come with codes to use their provided toys in-game and in real life.  

Perhaps this surge in popularity of Minecraft is also part of a broader resurgence of 2000s and 2010s nostalgia, as Pokémon has once again taken off in popularity amongst the younger generation. A Minecraft Movie also follows a recent trend in movie adaptations of popular video games from the same era, such as the Sonic the Hedgehog movies and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.  

Regardless, one thing is clear from the mass popularity of this film – the children yearn for the mines, and let’s be honest, deep down we all do. 

Katelyn Shields is a 4th year student studying Media / Arts, majoring in communication and journalism. A massive music fan, she can be found at concerts and record stores yapping about her favourite albums