A College Student's Take on the Minecraft Movie: More Grotesque Hyperrealism Than Block-Building Fun
It's rare, as a 22-year-old college student at Texas A&M University- College Station, that I’m truly reminded of how little time we have on Earth. And, let me put it another way: This is not a movie to watch sober. Please, for my sake, indulge in your substance of choice before submitting yourself to an hour and a half of grotesque hyperrealism animation and unfunny jokes. Oh, how I wish I had pregamed. But, hey, everything’s got a silver lining, right?
Target Audience and Humor
I have no idea who the target audience is, but this movie had something for the two main archetypes of Minecraft players. For the nerdy boys who come home from school and hop on a world with their buddies, there’s Henry. Hear me out - overweight, weird fringing-on-neckbeard facial hair and canonically smells bad? The movie’s style of comedy - well, comedy is a strong word - was to throw every plausible kind of joke at the audience and hope something sticks. And … that’s about it. Unfortunately, this is a movie made for Generation Alpha by Generation X, so most of the comedy consisted of saying the words “thingy” and “bro” an inordinate amount of times.
Storyline and Character Development
The storyline was a cheap Jumanji knockoff and the characters were woefully underdeveloped, even for my tempered expectations. I’m confident Natalie and Dawn’s little convo while killing the zombie was only there to satisfy the Bechdel test. Speaking of which, why were their characters even in the movie? They were sidelined for 80% of it and did absolutely nothing in the long run. The good female characters in this movie were Goosh - or whatever the evil lady’s name was - and Jennifer Coolidge’s role.
The storyline proves the writers have no respect for their audience. Spelling out every joke - who needs nuance? You’re telling me this kid has been building houses and defenses lickety-split for hours, but it somehow takes him four business days to build a 3-block-tall staircase? You really couldn’t do any better than that? When are we going to stop pretending like kids’ movies can’t be good films?
The Audience's Reaction
In the end, it doesn’t matter. The thing that made this movie bearable - and, dare I say, funny - was the audience. The theater erupted at every one of Jack Black’s iconic lines. “I am Steve?” Applause. “Flint and steel?” Cheers. “Chicken jockey?” Clapping, some whoops. I’m disappointed that I wasted 101 minutes of my life listening to Jack Black say things that way. Shoutout to the full row of guys wearing suits in front of my group.
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A Sequel on the Horizon
Unfortunately, we’ll likely be seeing a sequel in the coming years, though for the life of me I don’t know what it could be about. Get ready for more chicken jockey. “A Minecraft Movie” is getting a sequel. Warner Bros. Pictures on Thursday announced that it was planning to release the film in July 2027. Jared Hess is returning to direct and co-write the still untitled film, which counts Jason Momoa among its producers. No official plot or cast have been revealed yet. A sequel is not exactly a surprise. “A Minecraft Movie,” starring Momoa and Jack Black, remains the highest earning film of the year at the North American box office with $424 million in domestic ticket sales. The film more than doubled opening weekend expectations and took on a life of its own with kids shouting “chicken jockey” at theaters. Globally, it’s made over $957 million, trailing only “Lilo & Stitch” and the Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha 2.”
The studio released an Instagram picture of two “netherite” pickaxes, a material known to Minecraft players for its durability, with the caption: “Building terrain. See you in theaters July 23 2027.”
Read also: Minecraft in Education
Read also: Minecraft in Education
tags: #minecraft #movie #college #station
