A MINECRAFT MOVIE (2025)

In keeping with current trends in filmmaking that involve anything reboot or remake-related, where safe financial options trump creativity every day of the week, video game adaptations are all the rage. Usually, as in the case with The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), they disappoint critics and are relatively successful with the video game counterpart’s established fanbase. In the case of Borderlands (2024), they caught flak from both groups. But Minecraft is a different story. The sandbox video game was designed for players to literally and figuratively craft their own adventures, so traditional narrative storytelling doesn’t map on nearly as well for a potential adaptation. And with Napoleon Dynamite (2004) director Jared Hess helming A Minecraft Movie alongside five screenwriters, it should have been obvious even before the film’s trailer dropped that it would at least be a source of curiosity.

But a curiosity isn’t exactly the same thing as an interesting or worthwhile movie, much less a must-watch. Unless you’re a child obsessed with this video game and its lore, the only aspect of the film that’s truly worth a trip to cinemas is Jason Momoa’s (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom) performance. As Garrett ‘The Garbage Man’ Garrison, a former video game champion and current video game store owner / directionless loser, he’s a delight. Momoa fully commits to the reams of comic absurdity on display. Jack Black might be dialling every line of his to 11 in terms of energy, but when his role is largely that of an overly-enthused information dispenser, it’s Momoa’s portrayal of an arrogant fool that is this movie’s strongest quality.

Like most of A Minecraft Movie’s main characters, he happens upon the gift of a lifetime by chance, tagging along with protagonist Henry (Sebastian Hansen), Henry’s sister Natalie (Emma Myers), and estate agent / petting zoo owner Dawn (Danielle Brooks) to the Orbworld. They do so using the Orb of Dominance, hidden by Steve’s (Jack Black) dog in the real world, after Steve is trapped within the Nether (a hellish realm) by Malgosha (Rachel House), this world’s evil ruler. She and her army of fellow piglins (anthropomorphic pigs donning medieval-looking armour) are hellbent on destroying the Overworld, so after finding the Orb and using it to reach this fantastical realm filled with wondrous, square sights, it’s up to our motley crew to vanquish this antagonist and her cronies.

In case any of this sounds convoluted, the plot is easy to understand in real-time, so much so that the film’s egregious exposition dumps are an unnecessarily direct form of explanation. But whereas most kids’ films could do with seeking out more artful or clever ways of conveying this information without boring or confusing a child audience, A Minecraft Movie is so consistently zany and fast-paced that anything that can’t be conveyed with humour or action is hurled at the viewer through Black’s enthusiastic delivery. To shun exposition that speeds by at a near-breathless pace would go against this movie’s ethos of throwing things at the viewer and hoping some of them land, rather than allowing any emotion to be absorbed from the film.

On second thoughts, A Minecraft Movie isn’t a mess. It might seem that way given how outlandish and relentless it is, but the film remains firmly in control of its sense of humour, even when the jokes don’t land as they should. It’s like if Barbie (2023) truly committed to being a children’s film, dropping the social messaging and amping up the tongue-in-cheek absurdity tenfold. This is a sugary-sweet, aggressively comedic movie, where the humour is found in how eager Hess and his many screenwriters are to poke and prod at the elasticity of this narrative. The story’s very existence is part of the joke, and though this kind of nudging and winking in the audience’s direction may prove infuriating for some adult viewers, the constant diversions will almost certainly be an uproarious hit with children.

Now, unless you’re a young kid who’s been pining for this film for as long as you can remember, little will be recalled from the 101-minute experience. It is a borderline headache-inducing sugar-rush of a film, with non-stop jokes and a number of surprisingly enjoyable combat scenes. The animated portions of this movie aren’t just well-rendered, there’s something satisfying about watching these block-shaped creepers explode and piglins instantly turning into hunks of meat once eviscerated. The characters aren’t worth caring about too deeply, but Hansen does a good job of conveying Henry’s wide-eyed wonder, making him an effective conduit for kids to see themselves in. House’s voice acting as this film’s antagonist is also enjoyable, even if she’s not exactly a memorable villain (since she’s just a meaner, more powerful version of her many foot soldiers).

There’s a specific rhythm to A Minecraft Movie that’s surprisingly unique given that it’s a mainstream film capitalising on an established franchise. I have no doubts that this movie couldn’t have been made in a world before TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and their recent forebears, where short-form online content provides an addictive stream of dopamine hits. Though this is by no means a positive thing for humanity in a holistic sense, Hess and the film’s writers have capitalised on these trends by crafting a film that is constantly seeking out new ways of playing with its own narrative. Here, crucially, is where the sense of freedom, exploration, and unpredictability is transferred from the game to this adaptation. And since the film’s story is fairly flimsy, generic material, where our orphaned protagonist is ostracised for his intelligence and must use his smarts to save the world, this comedic approach is never self-defeating.

Even with these positive attributes in mind, it’s difficult to refer to this as a good movie. Maybe that’s because it shouldn’t be, or it’s that there’s something propulsive about this experience that gives it an illusion of quality that gradually leaves you once its ADD-riddled high wears off. But it’s certainly an experience, with that energy also transferring to the audience. This is the first time I’ve ever witnessed a crowd in an Irish cinema clap for anything, and it was done multiple times upon hearing and seeing references that went totally over my head (as someone who’s played the game for a dozen or so hours and ignored the theories and fandoms it has spawned, the additional lore is lost on me). While this is the epitome of a one-and-done film for anyone who isn’t Minecraft-obsessed, A Minecraft’s Movie’s breathless rhythm is consistently entertaining.

SWEDEN • USA • NEW ZEALAND • CANADA | 2025 | 101 MINUTES | 1.85:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

director: Jared Hess.
writers: Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James & Chris Galleta (story by Allison Schroeder, Chris Bowman & Hubbel Palmer’ based on the video game ‘Minecraft’ by Mojang Studios).
starring: Sebastian Hansen, Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, Rachel House, Jennifer Coolidge & Jemaine Clement.