Review: No, the Minecraft Movie isn't high art, but it's just plain stupid fun and a treat even if you don't play it

I just wanna start off by saying something about video game adaptions: it's more important for them to simply entertain me and for them to be fun, regardless if they're accurate to every single detail of the actual game's lore and/or design aspects. Growing up as a Sonic SatAM fan, which took a ton of liberties from the original Sega canon in order to craft Sonic's Knothole Village, and also enjoying the Paramount trilogy of films that reinterpret the Sonic lore altogether, I have a built-in precedent for accepting changes from the original source. 

So I came into The Minecraft Movie willing to give it a chance, especially seeing as unlike things like Sonic, the 1995 Mortal Kombat film and (the kinda underrated) Detective Pikachu, I don't play Minecraft. But I am something of a Jack Black fan, enjoying him in School Of Rock, Illumination's better-than-critics-claim Mario film as a flamboyant Bowser and a number of Tenacious D songs, and while I was mostly a Sonic main in Smash (and I still mostly play Street Fighter over that), Steve was fun to use here and there. 

With no emotional attachment to worry about, there wasn't much reason for me to rage- also, I watched it on HBO Max so I didn't have to deal with those now infamous psycho audiences with people hollering catch phrases and throwing popcorn around. And you know what? I had a surprisingly fun time with it. 

Black, in all fairness does a nice job giving Steve a ton of personality, as I don't know about any actual Minecraft lore. Bored with his life selling doorknobs, he outmaneuvers the angry guard blocking the mine shaft by his house, where he finds a magical cube that teleports him to Overworld and creates his own personal playground of awesomeness. His fun's interrupted by Malgosha (Rachel House), an evil pig wizard from the dark and firey Nether, who hates fun and whimsy, so she wants that cube to gain ultimate power (as all evil wizards do). 

Eventually Steve is joined by four other visitors to Overworld- an imaginative kid named Henry (Sebastian Hansen), his sister Natalie (Emma Meyers), the 80s-tinged former video game champion Garrett (Jason Momoa), and the real estate dealer Dawn (Danielle Brooks). They're our designated party on their Wonderboy-esque quest to save Steve's pet wolf Dennis, and save their magical world from Malgosha's bitterness.

This was nothing less than the Gen-Alpha version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I mean that as a compliment. Because even without the prompts, the movie is regardless directed like it's specifically meant for audience shout-outs during your second viewing of it- just walking into the room and hearing Jack Black scream "The Great Hog! She finally put in her brain!" with no context provided is more than likely going to be memorable for you. 

Once it gets to the game world action, here's a theatricality on display here that showcases a ton of imagination. The swooping camera shots are legit epic, not quite up to the level of the original How To Train Your Dragon films, but still in that same mold, and I'm assuming it took some influence from that series. 

Here's what you can't deny about the movie: they do try to give it some heart. That, and this whole project is a baked-in excuse for Jack Black to essentially be himself; which is, well, a big kid.  I'm sure he's got his own Slime Cube setup that he bounces off of in his backyard or something like that. Heck, he has a Tenacious D track talking abouut his love of gaming, so at least they got someone (much like how Paramount approached Ben Schwartz for Sonic, who played the Genesis/Mega Drive games in his youth) who is familiar with the genre (I don't know Chris Pratt's history with Mario, but he could have at least tried not to sound like Star-Lord dressed as a plumber).

 Jason Momoa is also having a blast here, presenting the kind of idiot jock energy that his run as Aquaman only mildly hinted at. Natatlie and Henry are a bit generic as the main kid leads, so while it isn't necessarily their fault, given they're only handed so much to work with, I didn't hate them but they are kind of a weak spot. Rachel House hams it up (no pun intended) as Malgosha, and Danielle Brooks as Dawn at least gets an opportunity to give us the same brand of everywoman charisma she's got on Peacemaker. 

So yeah, I'd recommend the Minecraft Movie even if you're not into the game series. Don't let the stuff about the nightmare screenings scare it away from you, it's a silly good time that encourages the idea of keeping the kid inside one's self alive, and I think that's a good takeaway for its target audience, even if it's not meant to be arthouse-level material.