The highly anticipated movie adaptation of the most successful video game of all-time hit theaters this month, and is quite the experience.
Because of the game being as popular as it is, the Minecraft movie has been one of the most intriguing film projects in recent years. It was announced in 2016 with an initial release date in 2019. Due to COVID-19 and creative differences between the studio and crew, it took almost a decade for the movie to be released. Fans wondered how the movie was going to be made, considering the game would be difficult to make into live action but also might not be taken seriously if turned into an animated film. Eventually it came out that Jack Black was cast to play Steve, the game’s main character, and fans quickly realized the movie was more than likely just going to be a cash grab.
As the release date came closer, Mojang and Warner Bros. released multiple trailers. The trailers were received with a ton of backlash as the film looked stupid and all but confirmed that it was going to be a dumb movie intended to make money off of the name. However, the internet quickly made the movie a meme based on the funny references to the game in the trailer. With clips of Jack Black talking and singing about references to Minecraft, the movie unexpectedly gained a lot of hype but not for the right reasons. People were excited to go see it because they knew how ridiculously bad it would be. I was one of the fans excited to see the movie because of the jokes. Memes were all over TikTok and Instagram, clips from the trailers and the movie were circulating, and it helped build up hype that the movie definitely needed.
Personally, I think the movie was one of the worst I have ever seen. The acting was bad, the script sounded like it was written in a day, and it was evident that the majority of the budget went to casting Jack Black and Jason Momoa.
Despite the movie being bad, it was hands down the best experience I have ever had watching a movie. I went with six of my best friends, who all grew up playing Minecraft with me. We walked into the theater expecting the movie to be bad, but put those expectations aside and just enjoyed the fact that we were watching a movie about one of our favorite childhood video games. Along with this, we knew the theater was going to be electric because of the online memes. We made friends with random kids our age around the theater. Despite the fact that it is a movie for kids, almost every person in the packed theater was our age.
Most people think of the movies as a quiet place where people go to watch in peace. That could not be more wrong regarding the Minecraft movie. I have never seen a theater so loud and lively, but no one minded. As the movie opened and Jack Black introduced his character, all of us cheered and clapped. And, this continued. I was more focused on the fun we were having than the movie itself. Every single time one of the online memes was referenced in the movie, everyone clapped and yelled. It was nothing like any movie I have ever been to, and we made it super fun. This was common across the country; videos online surfaced of every theater being exactly the same. Because of the hype fans built up and everyone flocking to the theaters to experience it for themselves, the movie made an astonishing $313 million domestically in its opening weekend, smashing all expectations of it bombing.
Overall, I can acknowledge that the movie itself was bad. Other than the surprisingly good CGI and Jack Black’s comedic touch, the movie was forgettable, and I do not see it ever being remembered as a good movie. I will definitely never watch it again and would not recommend it to anyone once it comes out on streaming. However, I do encourage everyone to go watch it while it is still in theaters just for the experience. Getting a big group of friends together and going to enjoy the experience rather than the movie made for a great time and really made it memorable for me despite the movie being a flop.
