I’m going to start this review off by saying that A Minecraft Movie was not made for me. I have no connection to the wildly popular video game series which it was based on, I have no concept of the characters or the lore, and none of this means anything to me. But I do like a good adventure comedy film. So, I walked into A Minecraft Movie with the same optimism and hope that I walk into any movie with. I was hoping the cast and maybe the script would carry this thing, or maybe I would find the world of Minecraft more interesting than I anticipated. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much here to enjoy. I found A Minecraft Movie to be a weightless, mindless, painfully unimaginative and largely unfunny slog. And yet, I hope for fans of this property, it’s everything you hoped it might be and more.

As stated, I have little to no knowledge of the Minecraft universe, and rather than me attempting to explain what happens in this movie, I will be recycling the plot synopsis provided by our good friends at Warner Bros. Pictures. Except for David Zaslav, he’s no friend of mine.

Four misfits—Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers) and Dawn (Danielle Brooks) find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like piglins and zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Jack Black). Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.

So, having no knowledge of the Minecraft universe outside of name recognition alone, I went into this hoping to see a fun, breezy action comedy popcorn movie. The advertising material kind of reminded me of the recent Jumanji movies, and I thought both of those were quite good. I just did not find much to enjoy here at all, unfortunately. A central reason is that A Minecraft Movie feels joyless and lacking in imagination. I was hoping for some good world building here, and unfortunately most of the places we travel with these characters to kind of look like crap. It’s all green screen backdrops and CGI, and I feel like it would have made a difference here if they had spent the money and time to build more tangible, practical sets. Another big problem is that for all this movie preaches about the power of creativity, it never feels very creative itself. 

Another problem is that Jack Black is playing the same character Jack Black has always played, and it’s getting old. He feels like he is distinctly here for the paycheck, and I did not enjoy a single thing about his performance. Jason Momoa is at least trying something here, I’ll give him that. But his has-been gamer bro schtick grew tiresome for me after awhile. Danielle Brooks and Emma Myers don’t have much to do here, which is unfortunate considering how talented both actresses have proven to be in better roles. The film also kind of sidelines its female characters with the lousy material in ways I didn’t appreciate. Newcomer Sebastian Hansen shows some promise, but he’s saddled with the same thankless task of acting opposite CGI characters who are never there and walking around fake locations that never really come to life.

We do have a few good moments with Jennifer Coolidge, who shows up as the principal of Henry’s new school where he has just started. Unfortunately, you’ve seen most of it in the trailers. Every single line reading Coolidge does is funny. I began to realize that I was only laughing in Jennifer Coolidge’s scenes. And then I started to wonder, is the script saving all the good stuff for her, or is Coolidge a person who just very simply understands the rhythms of comedy? I’m thinking it’s the latter. But her scenes are unfortunately few and far between and I kept hoping she would somehow get sucked into the Minecraft world, and this doesn’t happen.

Director Jared Hess previously made the films Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, also starring Jack Black. I guess if you enjoyed the comedic stylings of those films, you’re more likely to enjoy what’s going on in A Minecraft Movie. But I like neither of these films, and the enduring success of Napoleon Dynamite still baffles me to this day, quite frankly. And this film has five credited screenwriters and three more people with ‘story by’ credits. Unfortunately, it shows in the final product. Not much to say for the production design or the cinematography, or the score. We have some top 40 needle drops that felt way too on the nose, and yet not as many of them as I was anticipating.

Overall, I unfortunately was less than enamored with A Minecraft Movie. I found it to be an airless, unfunny and visually ugly misfire that felt utterly inconsequential. I felt like it wasted some good performers and showed a pointed lack of creativity. I could have been overwhelmed by the sense of wonder and excitement, if this film had any of it to offer, but unfortunately, there’s not a lot of anything here. However, if you’re a fan of this franchise, don’t (and I’m sure you won’t) take my word for it. There might be a lot for you here. It also is worth pointing out that I saw this film in an almost empty theater, which is probably not the best way to experience it. Had I been in a crowded theater with fans who were into it and got every reference, I might have been swept up by the energy in the room. But the energy (or lack thereof) present in A Minecraft Movie was not enough to win me over.