After its release in 2011, Minecraft became a juggernaut and began its track to becoming one of the most successful video games of all time. With over 300 million copies sold, Minecraft has cemented itself into pop culture history. With this wide success, it is no surprise that like most other successful video games, a film adaptation should be made. News of a Minecraft movie have been around for as long as the game has been with the news of a film being in development going as far back as 2014. However, it isn’t until now that the general public is finally able to view A Minecraft Movie in theatres.
A Minecraft Movie is a live-action adaptation of the video game. One, of the most unique and fundamental aspects of Minecraft is the cubed style of the game. Practically everything is made of cubes and squares, so when turning this world into a reality keeping this element is key. This is one element that manages to work slightly well. While the realistic cubed animals and elements at first can seem uncanny, it doesn’t take long to get used to them. The only things that look slightly off are the more humanoid creatures such as the zombies or villagers whose fleshy texture seems off.
Unlike most other games, Minecraft has a creative sandbox nature, there is no story and no real objective that a player must complete to be able to enjoy the game, and therefore it was always going to be a struggle to turn this game into a film. The film follows four original characters played by, Jason Momoa, Sebastian Eugene Hansen, Emma Myers, and Danielle Brooks who accidentally stumble into a portal and become trapped in the world of Minecraft. Here they are helped and guided by actor Jack Black’s character, Steve, who unlike the other characters is actually from the game itself being the default character you can play in the game.
While trying to introduce five characters but also wanting to flaunt the various resources recreated from the game into the film, we only focus on our three male leads having any sense of development and action throughout the story. With our other two characters being incredibly underused and having no real direction other than to be people the other characters can express their thoughts out loud. Even Jennifer Coolidge, an absolute highlight and scene-stealer, is only present for less than five minutes.
A Minecraft Movie is an inherently flawed film that is hurt trying to do too much in under two hours. The vast world and contents of the game are full of so many unique opportunities. Perhaps due to its massive box office draw if there is ever a sequel released for this film it can fully be able to tap into that potential.
