A Minecraft Movie

 This review may contain spoilers!

A Minecraft Movie is an adaptation of the hit video game, Minecraft. In this film, a band of down-on-their-luck Idaho denizens are whisked away to another world where imagination is the most extraordinary power you can wield. Desperate for a way back home, our heroes must team up with a seasoned adventurer, Steve, to save the Overworld and return home.

This is probably one of the most insane movie-going experiences I'll have this year. Sitting through audience members shouting out lines alongside the characters, hurling objects around in excitement and applauding multiple times to make fun of the experience made me realise what this movie had done VERY well. A Minecraft Movie fully commits to the absurdity of what it is trying to achieve; it knows there is no serious way to breathe life into Minecraft, and there's a lot of fun had in just pushing the envelope. Watching Steve and Garrett cuddle midair while strapped to a wingsuit, right through to Steve singing about his lava chicken contraption, is the sort of ridiculous fun this film allows itself and the audience to have.

While there are some problems with the special effects in this film, the base design and animations of the Overworld and its creatures look very creative. I found myself pretty immersed in just the experience of visually seeing the video game world brought to the big screen. The score for the film is extremely fun, inviting us on the adventure while also paying homage to the gentle tracks from the video game itself. The soundtrack is also a pretty fun blend of old-school rock and original Jack Black-led pieces that elevate the joy of this whole experience.

Jason Momoa, who played Garrett, really leans into the fun of a comedic role here; Momoa seems to revel in portraying this arrogant ex-Gamer of the Year who has fallen on hard times.  Jennifer Coolidge and Matt Berry, who played Vice Principal Marlene and voiced Nitwit respectively, worked in tandem to bring out the most amount of comedy from an unusual storyline; Coolidge really carries the work by throwing herself into these over-the-top flirting scenes. Jemaine Clement, who played Daryl, has quite a fun, macho trailer park type role here; Clement's bluster in the face of Momoa ruining his character's event was hilarious.

However, the best performance came from Jack Black, who played Steve. I mean, if you want to point a cast member who committed the whole nine yards, it has to be Black. From the moment he first appears, you immediately know he's going to give this role everything he has. Jack Black seems to have boundless energy and enthusiasm, wheeling through scenes with more exuberance than his younger co-stars. If bringing imagination to life were a person, it might be Black. He plays so well in this fabricated world, which just helps you believe in everything. He seems so full of confidence and commands the screen that you believe him to really be a fabled Minecraft warrior. That diamond armour scene alone... Black's humour carried this movie on solid shoulders, and the fact that he was able to lend his singing to the film only made it better.

As a whole, this film is riding on the hype and the social media memes that have seen people flock to it in droves. But the reality is, this isn't much of a story. Just as a concept the film barely knows how to begin, forming Steve as this goofy cartoon-like individual who is purely motivated by one location in a janky attempt to get a character into the Minecraft Overworld. We get a massive opening narration from Steve that is burdened with exposition before sending the action hurtling back to Earth. Unfortunately, the leads we are introduced to for this film are very strange character choices: a washed-up arcade owner, two orphans (one of whom is deemed creative because he draws a jetpack) and a family support worker/travelling zoo worker (I didn't get it either). The film mashes these downright odd character archetypes together and finds a way to shove them awkwardly into the Overworld. The film then proceeds to send all the characters on one long fetch quest to get a box for the portal cube, and later inevitably wrestling it off the big villain, all while sidelining their two leading actresses. In amongst all of this, there is a subplot of Jennifer Coolidge romancing a Minecraft villager, because the 5 (yup, 5!) writers were just that freaky. Even characters that should have more conflict with one another wind up getting along because the actors clearly wanted to have a bit of a bromance. It's a poorly crafted script, no better than your typical American general release comedy, except this has Minecraft stamped on the poster.

The film is rather ugly to look at in terms of shots; it really shows the limits of the effects-heavy world. There aren't many truly creative shots, and the film feels very limited in what it can achieve. While the core design of the special effects looks good, they blend terribly with live-action characters, with whole aspects reminding the viewer that we're not watching something entirely immersive. The budget for special effects clearly didn't extend to the live-action shots, as it is this setting where the visual effects look the worst.

Sebastian Hansen, who played Henry, is such a focal point of the film and yet entirely annoying to watch; Hansen just lacks personality and doesn't feel like the kid full of wonder who has something to bring to the Minecraft world. Emma Myers, who played Natalie, is in such an awkward role in this feature; Myers playing an orphaned older sister who has to take on a guardian role doesn't feel like a character who is easy to engage with. Danielle Brooks, who played Dawn, is one of the characters who just did not need to be in this film; Brooks seems very earnest, but her character adds absolutely nothing to the overall narrative. Rachel House, who voiced Malgosha, is a pretty cut-and-dry antagonist; House doesn't do much with this role and is satisfied with just playing bad. Jared Hess, who voiced General Chungus, felt like a simplistic comedic character; Hess voices a role played for comedy but drawing absolutely no laughs.

This strange, absurd, indecipherable movie is entertaining even when it has no reason to be. I would give A Minecraft Movie a 4.5/10.