“A Minecraft Movie” Review – Kids Will Likely Love It

Yesterday my husband and I took our kids and one friend to see “A Minecraft Movie.” My “kids” are one young adult and one late teen. They grew up on Minecraft and know it well. The following will be my review of the film and will include their viewpoints as they are the target audience and I am not.

I will start with the non-spoiler review and then will follow with spoilers.

Non-spoiler review

The film is geared at kids and fans of Minecraft. If you have played the game and get the nuances, you will enjoy the references. Everyone else might not find it as entertaining, but you will still find some things to laugh about.

This is a very Jack Black movie. My husband calls it the “Most Jack Black movie” he’s seen. I don’t know if I would agree, but it is definitely a vehicle for the actor. Jason Momoa is more the lead in my opinion, but there is a bromance going on with these two.

Jennifer Coolidge is also featured in the film as the school’s principal, but she really isn’t in it that much. However, when she is her lines are memorable, especially when she talks about raccoons (you will get it if you see it.)

The other characters are more side characters in the film, even though Henry is supposed to be important, as he is the representation of kids playing the game. Even so, Black and Momoa dominate the film.

It’s a fun movie that kids will enjoy. I keep seeing reviews that indicate kids enjoy it. Some reviews say it reminds them of the fun YouTube videos they grew up watching. Some corny moments but a lot of fun for Minecraft lovers.

FYI, there are two after-credits scenes, so wait till the end.

Overall, I would give it a 5.5/10. It’s on par with “Snow White” for me, and my son agrees.  My daughter thought it was great and would likely give it a 6.5/10 because “it’s campy fun.”

Spoiler Review

Do not read on if you don’t want any spoilers for the film.

The film is about some people who find a macguffin and create a portal to the Minecraft world. My husband says it is “the most macguffin, macguffin” he’s seen.

Steve (Jack Black) wanted to mine as a kid. He wasn’t allowed to. When he grew up he sold door knobs, but life was boring so he mined his brains out till he found the two artifact macguffin– the Orb of Dominance and it’s case. Once put together, it opens a portal to the Minecraft Overworld.

He lives there, creating as much as he can. There are jokes about how it gets dark every twenty minutes. Steve also befriends a wolf named Dennis, who becomes his dog.

Eventually, they accidentally enter The Nether, and Steve gets captured. An evil Piglin named Malgosha wants the orb, so Steve sends Dennis back to our world to hide it at his house.

Jason Momoa (Garret the Garbage Man) a 1989 gaming champion who never moved on and clings to that time period. He has a washed-up gaming store/arcade, which he is getting evicted from. He gains the orb by winning a storage unit lot that contained Steve’s stuff.

Natalie (Emma Myers) and her brother Henry (Sebastian Hansen) are moving into the town because their mom died, and her dying wish was that they move there for some reason they never explain. The realtor/traveling zoo owner is Dawn (Danielle Brooks). Natalie is working as a social media guru for the major employer in town, a potato chip factory. Henry goes to school and on his way stops in at Garret’s business. Later, while at school, Henry tries to prove how smart he is by building a rocket pack for a skeleton, that is sabotaged by other students, and destroys the factory’s mascot.

He doesn’t want his sister to know so he calls Garret to pretend to be his guardian. They end up activating the cube which takes them all to the Minecraft world. A villager goes into our world and gets hit by the newly divorced principal’s car. She takes him out to dinner, because of course she does.

Steve is released to get the cube for Malgosha. He shows up in time to save them from the skeletons, zombies, and creepers that appeared in the dark. In the kerfuffle, Garret breaks the orb’s case, and they need to go to the Woodland Mansion to replace it. The movie revolves around their quest to get the item. On the way, the girls get separated from the boys. While they escape the village from General Chungus and the piglin soldiers, Steve and Garret have to share a winged backpack when they come under attack. An entire scene is dedicated to the pair making a man sandwich and 69 position their way through a hole.

The girls find Dennis the dog/wolf and make a wolf army.

It goes on, they go through the red stone mines, hit a room full of creepers, and make their way to the mansion where Henry has to face an Enderman. Steve and Garret get put into a fighting ring with a chicken rider. They escape, but Garret is presumed dead.

Malgosha gets the orb and uses it to block out the Overworld’s sun so her army can attack without zombification. Henry tries to retrieve the orb and falls, but Garret shows up to save him. They stop Malgosha and everyone goes home.

A lot more happens than what I am explaining but you get the gist. There are many references to Minecraft jokes, Easter Eggs, and even a pig with a crown representing Minecraft YouTuber Technoblade, who passed away in 2022.

If you like Jack Black, Minecraft, and an abnormal amount of shots of Jason Momoa’s butt, you will probably enjoy this film.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!