Going into this movie, I was expecting a by-the-book, uninspired, long-form advertisement for marketable plushies. Pretty much the 2019 remake of “Jumanji” but with Jason Momoa in place of The Rock. I was prepared to turn my brain off and giggle as Jack Black explained the idea of Minecraft to the audience for an hour and a half. 

What I got was a supremely enjoyable, yet stupid film that kept a smile on my face for the entire runtime. 

I quite enjoyed how the film leaned into the absurdity of the premise and did not take itself seriously, even by accident. It seemed like the film knew that it was not supposed to be good and it was quite okay with that. 

The humor was solid, most of the jokes were random but I felt a majority of them landed. 

Anytime the actors interacted with the world in a way that was accurate to the game were far and away the best parts of the film for me. 

Jack Black and Jennifer Coolidge were both terrific. I’m not even wholly convinced Black was acting. 

As absurd as the tone is, though, some moments get too brainless, even for my tastes. For one, the movie made exceptions or just flat-out ignored some existing Minecraft mechanics in the name of plot convenience. Also,  the necessary but incredibly long exposition dump by Black in the beginning of the film became a slog and felt like it may never end. 

For what the film was trying to accomplish as a fun and lighthearted comedy for children, it delivered in spades. 

Minecraft elitists will be upset with this movie. They’ll gripe at all the inaccuracies and wail at the bastardization of their comfort game, but if you go into the movie with the right mindset (that is, to turn your mind off), it’s a very enjoyable experience.  At the end of the day, I had to accept this movie was not made for people like me; people who grew up with Minecraft and are now adults. This movie is for kids who are growing up with the game now.

Ultimately, the film sucked. But it was so enjoyable that I think it might just be brilliant. 

I am not even sure what a “bad” movie is anymore. If I enjoyed it, how bad could it really be?

It was pretty bad though. 

Categories: Arts & Entertainment