As a general rule, I try to not have bias going into a film for the first time. Unfortunately, since I write reviews, I also read reviews on a daily basis. Furthermore, I’m always reading about films so naturally it is a hard situation to say I’m always neutral in my standing. Case and point, A Minecraft Movie which was loaded with bad press from the start stemming from the fact that Jack Black was doing nothing more than playing himself in a movie loosely based on the concept of Minecraft. Therefore, when asked by a co-worker prior to the screening of the movie what I was doing that afternoon, I responded, “Going to see the Minecraft movie, it will probably end up being terrible.” However, while the depiction of Jack Black’s role in the movie was 100% dead on, I have to admit the film is not that bad. It’s actually worse but yet in the same breath it’s freaking brilliant and hilarious. Let me explain.
Once upon a time, Steve (played by Jack Black) was a young kid looking for adventure and wanted to get a job in the mines. However, he was told to get out and find a different job. So Steve decided to get a boring office job instead and sold doorknobs. Of course, this was rather unfulfilling so he decided to ditch that job and break into the mines to live out his childhood fantasy. There he found the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal. When these two artifacts are put together they open a portal to the Overworld. This Overworld is an alternate dimension where building is as simple as the manipulation of blocks. Steve is able to build houses and other items that were previously only in his dreams. A virtual utopia. Everything is going perfect for his new life until he stumbles into another portal that leads to the Nether.
The Nether is a dark realm inhabited by a bunch of pig-like creatures called piglins. These piglins are ruled by the evil Malgosha (voiced by Rachel House) who captures Steve in hopes of her being able to gain the Orb of Dominance along with the Earth Crystal to rule the Overworld. In a last minute effort, Steve reaches out to his tamed wolf Dennis to take those two artifacts back to the real world and hide them under his bed in his old house to be safe. The portal from the Nether to the Overworld is closed trapping the piglins as well as Steve. For all of eternity. I sure hope that nothing ever happens to that house back in the real world. Let’s hit those opening credits.
Back to the real world, present day in Chuglass, Idaho. We are in the presence of one Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (played by Jason Momoa). In the world of video games, Garrett was king when it came to a title called “Hunk City” where he could call himself champion. Unfortunately, hard times have occurred for the Garbage Man. He owns a failing video game store called Game Over World and he can’t pay his bills. So in hopes of a little extra cash, he attends storage auctions (think Storage Wars). On this particular day, he finds a locker that is supposed to hold the prized Atari Cosmos, a console so rare that it will change his financial situation instantly. He overbids, and while the box is there, there is nothing inside except for a cube and a crystal. I think we have seen these items before.
Then we have our brother and sister duo named Henry(played by Sebastian Hansen) and Natalie (played by Emma Myers) who recently moved to this small town to restart life after their mother’s death. The house they move into was sold to them by Dawn (played by Danielle Brooks) who also has a side hustle where she takes care of animals called Zoo on Wheels. While Natalie tries to figure out how to make some money, Henry goes off to the local school in hopes of higher learning. Unfortunately, on his very first day he gets into all sorts of hijinks involving a jetpack and knocks over the mascot for Chuglass potato chips (and town lifeline). Vice Principal Marlene (played by Jennifer Coolidge) tells Henry he is in big trouble and needs to speak to a parent or guardian immediately.
Henry certainly doesn’t want to go back to his sister and there are unfortunately no other guardians to be found for the young boy. That is, until he runs into Garrett who is willing to do anything for money at this point and agrees to be his “uncle”. Henry is able to get out of trouble for the moment, but later on at Game Over World, he comes across the same cube and crystal that Garrett tossed earlier from his storage locker purchase. He combines the cube and crystal and a strange energy emits from the two which draws Henry and Garrett away from the store and towards the mines. The Overworld portal awaits, but that also means the portal to the Nether is also re-opened to the Overworld. With Natalie and Dawn soon to follow as well, can this band of rag-tag adventurers prevent Malgosha and the piglins from taking over the Overworld?
From there, we are subject to all sorts of craziness and hilarious moments in the world of Minecraft. This is helmed by director, Jared Hess who directed Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre which gives you a clue of how this movie actually plays out. First, let’s touch on Jack Black who plays Steve. In most people’s minds who have played more than ten minutes of Minecraft, he probably doesn’t fit what we would think the character to be. I mean Jack looks every bit of his fifty five year old self right down to the salt and pepper facial hair. But here is the thing about Jack Black, he plays every role he is in one hundred and fifty percent harder than anyone would expect. I don’t think I have ever seen a role where he hasn’t given it everything and then some. In A Minecraft Movie, he’s zany, unpredictable (he seriously breaks into song a few times in the movie for absolutely no reason at all), and most of all funny.
The rest of the supporting actors and actresses also suffer from some odd casting choices. It is a little confusing to associate Jason Momoa with his pink outfit for nearly the entire duration of the film. This is the same man who played Aquaman and plenty of other action films in a completely serious tone. But again, it works because the character does take himself seriously, it comes across hilarious. Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen also do an adequate job in their supporting roles. Jennifer Coolidge is a fantastic comedic actress like she always is. The only serious concern would be that of Danielle Brooks who is a fine actress but doesn’t actually add anything to the film. True, Natalie’s character needs someone to play off of in many scenes, but the character of Dawn could be easily replaced with pretty much anybody else.
The film itself also has a rather uneven story. When Jack Black is on the screen, it’s brilliant, funny and chews up scenery at a lightening pace. When he’s not (unless we are talking Jennifer Coolidge), it drags for the most part. Even with Jason Momoa, the story isn’t good to enough to support any subplots or character development. What you see is what you get. Most people won’t notice however and will be too busy waiting for the next gag to bust a gut laughing at. I think if this franchise continues (which it surely will), they will need to expand on that story and make it stronger or else it will only march out one sequel at best. Remember, live-action comedies very rarely go beyond a couple of movies. Furthermore, I can’t remember any in the last ten years.
Even though I saw this movie on Friday afternoon, I wanted to wait until at least Monday to see the results of first weekend box office. It was a tremendous eye opener. A Minecraft Movie did nearly $163 million domestically and added another $150 million worldwide. That’s downright crazy numbers to support an absolutely crazy movie. We will almost certainly see a sequel and this thing will probably gross well over half a billion. Perhaps some of that can be attributed to the Tik-Tok challenges we have been hearing about (which are essentially turning this into the modern day Rocky Horror Picture Show) but maybe this has to do more with that Minecraft is a viable franchise ripe for money making opportunities. Does it make no sense and is horribly miscast in so many places? Sure, but it’s funny and sometimes that’s all you need. Recommended for kids, recommended for adults who are able to take a joke. I have to admit, I want to hate it, but I don’t, and both my wife and son were laughing up a storm during the entire length of the film. All I can say to end this review is “Vaya Con Dios.” which means “Goodbye Brother” or perhaps Enjoy (It actually means “Go with God” for anyone reading this far).
By the way for those who are reading this far, there are not one but two scenes during and after the credits. The second in particular which doesn’t happen until the credits black out which sets up a potential sequel involving another famous character from the Minecraft storyline. Enjoy.
| Overall: |  (7 / 10) |
