Director: Jared Hess
Cast: Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers, Sebastian Hansen
Screenplay: Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil Widener, Gavin James, Chris Galletta
101 mins. Rated PG for violence/action, language, suggestive/rude humor and some scary images.

If there’s one thing you can count on in a Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) movie, it’s a random tater tot appearance.

When Henry (Sebastian Hansen, Just Mercy) and his older sister Natalie (Emma Myers, Family Switch) arrive move to a new town following the loss of their mother, Henry wanders into the local video game to discover a strange blue blocky orb that, when activated, transports them along with video game legend-turned-has-been Garrett (Jason Momoa, Dune) and realtor Dawn (Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple) to the Overworld, a place where anything you can dream can be built. This strange world has villagers and animals, but it also resides above the Nether, where the villainous Piglins vie for the powerful orb in order to bring darkness to the Overworld and claim it for themselves. Together, this ragtag group of Earthlings will need the help of one of their own, Steve (Jack Black, Kung Fu Panda), who knows the Overworld better than any human.

Going into this film, I should point out that I’ve never played any Minecraft games. I’m aware of them, and I’m surrounded by young family that could rattle off all sorts of lore and world-building factoids, but I was essentially coming into this blind. Hess opens the film with a Lord of the Rings-style prologue to catch me up to speed, narrated by Black and setting the stage for the story in a fairly economic way. There’s the sense that the filmmakers understand the legacy of video games and there’s an effort to use Garrett to really embrace what came before, creating a film that honors and loves gamers of all types. Though never stated in the finished film, the Overworld is treated very much like a video game world, similar in many ways to the recent Jumanji films, and the effect comes off at times like a blocky pixelated Mad Max riff. There are some specific rules to the world that are mostly well-defined and successful at outlining the ability to manipulate the Overworld in numerous creative ways which had me feeling like I was playing along.

A Minecraft Movie will live or die based on your reaction to the comedic work of Jack Black and Jason Momoa, but I had a blast watching them play to their goofier sides and really embrace the insanity of the world. These two have similar vibes and strong chemistry, and they were the highlight of the movie. It’s a wonder we haven’t seen them together before, but I get the feeling we’ll see a reteaming in the future, whether for a Minecraft sequel or just about any other comedy project.

I’ve found Hess, as a filmmaker, to be very hit-or-miss when it comes to his storytelling style. I firmly believe that Napoleon Dynamite is an indie classic that rides that absurdist line with relatable and off-kilter characters, but a lot of his later output missed the comedy and suffered from pacing problems. Here, with a screenplay that gives him room to play, he’s able to work some classically strange Jared Hess humor into Minecraft, understanding and acknowledging the ludicrous nature of the world along the way.

All that being said, A Minecraft Movie has many of the same faults as the recent Super Mario Bros Movie. Both films are based on beloved games that offer different experiences to every gamer. Because of that, both films had fairly simplistic and generic storylines that don’t offer much in terms of complexity or stakes, ironic for Minecraft as the game and film are both so focused on creativity. Minecraft is able to accomplish a bit more, its message to creatives to maybe sometimes turn off the game and go out into the world to build something is more successful, and the third act is a little more climactic, but I do wish more care had been put into an exciting plot, especially with five credited screenwriters.

I think Minecraft fans will enjoy A Minecraft Movie. There were a number of easter eggs and references that were explained to me after the screening that will be sure to make fans happy. As a non-Minecraft fan, the characters were fun and silly, and the CG world less intrusive than expected. I also really vibed with Jack Black and Jason Momoa, though the rest of the cast is given less to do in the trade-off. I wish the story took more twists and turns, but the finished product is a fun, wholesome, and well-CRAFTed adventure for all ages.

(Oh, and give me an entire movie with Jennifer Coolidge and the villager on a romantic whirlwind adventure, please!)

3.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe