A Minecraft Movie

Originally published Apr 7, 2025

The buildup to A Minecraft Movie over the last few months has been a peculiar ride, to say the least. From the initial outrage towards the teaser trailer to the countless memes of Jack Black’s line deliveries as Steve, fewer video game movies have raised as much conversation as of late quite like this. Now that it’s finally out, how does it fare? To me, exactly as I expected from the director of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre.

When four strangers are unexpectedly transported to a world of limitless creativity, they embark on an adventure with a builder named Steve (Jack Black) to find their way home while saving this new world from darkness and destruction. For those concerned that the plot is stolen straight from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, I’m here to put it to rest: it (largely) is. Where A Minecraft Movie differs is that it doesn’t take itself anywhere near as seriously as Jumanji did. Unfortunately, this does mean that most attempts at emotional or dramatic moments fall flat. There’s also no real surprises, either. Even so, this doesn’t make it a bad movie.

Where A Minecraft Movie atones for its faults is in how ridiculously funny it is. As expected, Jack Black is an unapologetic delight, and his chemistry with Jason Momoa is electric. Although it could’ve benefitted from more organic implementation, Jennifer Coolidge and her romance with a Villager is as ridiculous and amusing as it sounds. Comedy aside, the movie does a smashing job of translating the world of Minecraft into live-action.

A Minecraft Movie certainly doesn’t do anything revolutionary for movies or video game adaptations, but it isn’t trying to. If you want a goofy romp to turn off your brain for, it might just be the movie for you.

Rating: 6.8/10