A Minecraft Movie – I Am Steve and (Probably) So are You

When watching A Minecraft Movie, I couldn’t help but feel like an observer. My theater was full of families and people of all ages who were having a great time at the movies. People were clapping at the lines from the trailers that have become memes, such as “I……. Am Steve.” and even “This is a crafting table.” I have not had a theater experience this fun and full of excitement since the opening night of Avengers: Endgame. For a brief moment, the world was in unison in the IMAX theater where I saw this.

As a kid, I grew up playing and loving Minecraft. I have written about its impact on me before (click here for that), and I couldn’t help but find myself in a state of peace with the release of this film. But before that, what does a non-kid me think of the movie? To find this out, we first mine, then craft, or in other words, we must “Minecraft.”

Video game adaptations are either terribly made by companies who want to use the respective IP to create a new franchise or rarely exist. In this case, we have a movie made by people who respect the game’s vision, yet wanted to make a really entertaining time, at which they succeeded. To get it out of the way, this movie is really funny. The jokes land one after another. You will be laughing through most of the runtime. There is a hilarious subplot with a Villager, a person from the Minecraft world (which they refer to as the Overworld in the film) in the real world, and that was arguably the funniest aspect of the film.

A surprise to me would be the performances. Everyone steals the show. Jason Momoa, in particular, who plays down on his luck 1989 gamer of the year, Garret the Garbageman, is fantastic. He has clear motivation; you learn to understand his character and sympathize with him. His relationship with Henry, a young boy looking for a mentor after losing his parents, is special to watch unfold on screen.

The special effects are incredible. There was never a moment where you would go, “Oh, they are definitely standing in front of a green screen.” This is in part due to the blending of practical effects, giving the actors something to stand on and physically interact with, which makes a huge difference in bringing you into the world. The backgrounds and creature designs look outstanding. This is the exact opposite of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania, where the entire movie looks as if actors are on sound stages and the effects are incomplete.

The story is quite straightforward; as a plot for a kids movie, it is servicable. The movie is not quite lore acurate to the game, with things being changed to fit the film. The score also did not really use any music from the game, which I felt was a missed opportunity. Half of the script is Jack Black dropping exposition continuously, with very little depth to Black’s interpretation of Steve.

It was interesting to watch because this is not a movie made for me. All the kids in the theater were leaning to their parents going,” That’s this from the game,” and so on and so forth. There really aren’t very many moments to pull on my nostalgia to make me cry, but it did help me appreciate the childhood I had. In the film, since he was a child, Steve “Yearned for the mines.” As an adult, he finally got to fulfill that dream; he found the Overworld and got to express his creativity. Steve represents my generation watching the film; the kids who grew up thinking all they want to do when they got older is play Minecraft.

The creativity Minecraft and now its movie make us feel is real, but it is important to use that in the real world, not a virtual one. That idea really spoke to me. A Minecraft Movie is what going to the theater with your family is all about: pure sillyness. It is welcoming to all, no matter if you are or aren’t made of blocks. Is it a movie of the year contender? Okay, I don’t know about that, but it should definitely be a contender for future weekend plans.