This is a film that shouldn't work. It has a barebones plot and character dynamics that you've probably seen better done in other movies. It also has way too many cooks in the kitchen with six credited writers. But it surprisingly works, most of the time, thanks to its enthusiastic silliness. That much is evident when we're introduced to Steve (Jack Black), who delivers the rather lengthy opening exposition.
It's quite an entertaining yarn as we listen to him wanting to mine his local mine for reasons, which he finally does as an adult. There, he finds two MacGuffins ("This thingy and that cool thingy") that send him to the blocky Overworld. The Overworld lets him build anything he wants, so he builds himself his own town. All is good until he finds the Nether, which is populated by the evil Piglins and their ruler, Malgosha (Rachel House), who hates creativity. She wants the thingies, but Steve sends his loyal wolf, Dennis, to hide them in the real world.
The thingies wind up with has-been gamer Garrett Garrison (Jason Momoa), who ends up in the Overworld with siblings Natalie (Emma Myers) & Henry (Sebastian Hansen) and their realtor Dawn (Danielle Brooks). One of the thingies breaks, but they can find a replacement with Steve's help. Meanwhile, Malgosha sets out to reclaim the thingies so she can conquer the Overworld. Our heroes can't let her do that. Yeah, that's kind of it.
Along the way, Henry & Natalie quarrel & make up; Garrett learns not to be a greedy jerk (but with his game shop getting foreclosed, can you blame him?); and Dawn is mostly there, but she uses her Petting Zoo "side-hustle" during the final battle. What about Steve? Well, Malgosha wants him to retrieve the thingies, so you'd think that he'd turn against our heroes. That never happens, which is kind of a waste. It's all typical stuff, but it's rarely boring thanks to its sense of humor. Director Jared Hess's creative voice is quite strong in this film.
Now for a few other points. It's little surprise that, when Garrett pulls of a heroic sacrifice midway through, that it won't stick. It's quite a surprise, however, to see how he survives it. Black and Momoa go all out with their line deliveries, turning the most basic lines into memorable quotes. Hess, as the Piglin General Chungus, gets the film's funniest lines thanks to his character's laidback personality. Malgosha's last stand is so pitiful that she's almost pitiable. Almost. About the only plot point that annoyed me was a lack of karma for a pair of school bullies. They just slink into the background after they sabotage Henry's makeshift jetpack. Nothing? Okay.
I didn't know what to make of its aesthetics when I first saw that trailer. The realistic renderings of the game's blocky world looked odd, which was one reason I wasn't interested in it. But the aesthetics not only grew on me by the time I saw the film, but they made sense. Sure, the NPCs, or "Mobs," are bizarre, but some of them are meant to be bizarre, even creepy. Some elements, like chickens getting cooked into whole rotisseries in lava, are rendered hilarious instead of horrifying. It makes sense considering that this is a game world. By the end, I was amazed with the locales, even if the chroma keying wasn't perfect.
What else do we have here? What we see of its in-universe games, particularly Garrett's favorite brawler Hunk City Rampage, might entice one to play them now. The soundtrack features a marvelous score by Mark Mothersbaugh, some bits of original game music, and even a few goofy musical numbers sung by Black. A "pointless" subplot between Henry's Vice-Principal Marlene (Jennifer Coolidge) and the NPC Nitwit is actually amusing. Its adaptation of the crafting mechanics is quite intriguing, even if, as I've heard, it's not accurate to the game. You won't be lost amongst the game references if you've never played the game; one particular easter egg, however, will hit a lot harder if you get it.
Judging by the box-office, I think that A Minecraft Movie has found its audience well. I'm not sure if I have the time for the game, but I'm a bit more mildly curious about it now after this movie. Come check it out to see what all the fuss is about. Hopefully, even if you find it boring, your audience will let you watch it in peace. I'm not sure if it's worth the pandemonium making the news. Time and place, people!
That's it for now.
