By: Daniel Kendle
The ‘Minecraft’ movie, formally known as ‘A Minecraft Movie’, is a 2025 film released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, and Mojang Studios. Directed by Jared Hess (‘Napoleon Dynamite,’ ‘Ninety-Five Senses’), the movie is based off of the popular video game ‘Minecraft.’
‘Minecraft’ is my personal favorite video game ever, so I’ve been…curious about its silver-screen adaptation ever since it was announced, boosted by its initial trailer’s release last year. I’m also (straightens tie) a bit of a film buff myself, so that helps a lot. So, on opening night of this year, I showed up to an AMC screening of the movie, clad in a suit and my dad’s sunglasses, ready to enter the pits and emerge back alive.
The film’s plot is pretty basic, all things considered; if you’ve seen the modern ‘Jumanji’ films, then you get the idea: people are sucked into a video game, and have to find their way back home to the “real” world. This comparison isn’t necessarily a bad one per say, but I think it’s the beginning of an all-encompassing problem this film has: identity.
When adapting a piece of media into a feature film, one must decide how faithful the adaptation must be. This is a sliding scale, with past video game movies falling all over the spectrum. For me, the sweet spot is around the middle: the film encapsulates and faithfully translates the source material thoroughly, but brings forth its own ideas as to not feel like just a 1-to-1 replica of its predecessor.
This is where ‘A Minecraft Movie’ confuses me. The film seems to strive to land on both opposite ends of the line: it wants to be incredibly-faithful, yet also be a standalone product. The movie features countless references and Easter eggs to ‘Minecraft’ and its spin-off franchises – hell, the main villain is a character from one of those spin-offs. And yet, seemingly to spite this, the plot chosen for the film seems barely interested in telling a story reminiscent of ‘Minecraft’s’ emotions, atmosphere, and world building, instead using locations and creatures from the game on a surface level.
Throughout the movie, I was having a good time – a GREAT time, even -, but never really processed the experience as an adaptation of the game I love. I’ve heard how people couldn’t believe that they were finally watching the ‘Minecraft’ movie upon initial viewing. While this likely isn’t their opinion on that matter, I felt the same, though in a negative way. This movie doesn’t feel reminiscent of its source material in any way other than literally. Throwing all of these references and characters is one thing, but capturing the spirit and vibe of the game you’re adapting is another.
For me, ‘Minecraft’ is a game that relies heavily on its unique atmosphere for its magic. In a vacuum, I’ve always described it as tender, yet haunting – the world, despite its scenic vistas and cute mobs, has always had a looming sense of isolation that prevents it from joining ‘Stardew Valley’ and ‘Animal Crossing’ in the cozy game genre. But then again, its loose structure separates it from a game like ‘Terraria,’ another sandbox game that employs a more strict and linear progression system.
It’s so unique, and is among the game’s most beguiling offerings.
This movie reminds me of a quote by Max Brooks, author of the book ‘World War Z’ (and, like, 3 ‘Minecraft’ novels; go figure). When asked about his thoughts on the book’s screen translation, he said:
“I was expecting to hate, it and I wanted to hate it because it was so different from my book, and yet the fact that it was so different from my book made it easier to watch because I didn’t watch my characters and my story get mangled…So I was just watching somebody else’s zombie movie, which was fun and intense.” – Max Brooks, USA Today
This quote is about how I feel about ‘A Minecraft Movie:’ it’s a fun ride and I’m able to put aside the original title and enjoy it separately, yet when compared to its adapted game in retrospect, it pales in comparison. I was able to enjoy my time in the theatre, but I’ve largely filtered out my memories with it. It’s over, and I’ve gained little in the process.
If you haven’t seen the clips online by now (a near-impossible task, I know), this film has some memes going around about it. Since the initial teaser, lines like “I…am Steve,” “Flint and steel!,” and most-popular of all, “Chicken Jockey!,” have gained immense notoriety since their inception. These are only a few of the movie’s impressive array of joke-quotes. The film rattles them out at nauseum, as if it’s a 9-5 for it. I can certainly see their appeal, and do find them funny – to an extent. Their inclusions have left me in the opinion that they make the film feel…hollow.
This movie, in my opinion, is set to become dated with time. Not because it has any specific pop culture references or whatever, but because of what it stands for. This is the ‘Minecraft’ movie. Forever. There’s no going back. And when you have a film whose main appeal is ironic, topical humor, there’s little chance that we’ll be as kind to it then as some of us are now.
There’s nothing wrong with liking ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ of course. Everyone has their own opinions, and as long as you aren’t hurting anyone else with your’s it’s perfectly-valid. But nonetheless, I’d like to see a strong argument for the film’s portrayal of this universe as one reminiscent of the power the original one holds.
Actually, there is 1 I should mention. Hess has stated in multiple interviews how the film’s title using “A” at the beginning is intentional, highlighting how this adaptation is only 1 of many, the others being fan creations and the like. Using “A” defines it as not the definitive ‘Minecraft’ translation, but only a single story in an amorphous narrative, one able to be shaped by anyone. I greatly-respect this decision, and believe it to be a strong counter to my thoughts on the movie’s tonal dissonance.
Still, I can’t call this a perfect bandage. Even if Mojang claims to view ‘A Minecraft Movie’ as only a fragment in a sea of ‘Minecraft’-related stories, its nature eludes this idea. Having the creators of the game supporting and developing this feature ultimately undermines this mentality. If the people who made the game, a movie’s adaptation, and also helped aid the movie’s development, that action leaves it impossible for the game studio to not be partial to this retelling of their original game. Their commitment to ‘A Minecraft Movie’ doesn’t cement it as the definitive adaptation of the game for all, but rather Mojang’s definitive adaptation of the game.
This partiality strains the director and companies’ efforts in underplaying the product’s pinnicality, causing the final result to attempt to stray from the original material’s theming and world as much as possible without becoming something new. And when that result personally feels like a poor representation of the material…my time with it is ruined.
. . .
This is likely my most controversial review yet, and I’m aware of that. I’ve mainly focused on the movie’s – and my – relationship with the game, which makes this review ripe with some of that yum-yum bias that politicians always drool over.
You’ve also possibly noticed how I’ve never even mentioned the story, characters, or VFX once! It’s a surface-level complaint, see – this whole time, I HAVE been talking about those, just in a manner less-literal than you may have expected. Yeah (grunts while flexing), back in elementary school, they called me Mr. Whatshisname the Foreshadow-er, for what it’s worth.
In conclusion, I’m giving ‘A Minecraft Movie’ a 4/10. As of April 2025, the film is playing in theatres globally.
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