Ten years ago, the idea of a movie based on Minecraft, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, would have sounded like a setup for a joke about the current state of video game films. In 2025, though, it's not only reality but the right choice for the franchise's expansion to the big screen.
A Minecraft Movie is exactly what you think it is based on its trailers. It's a big, cartoony live-action movie, filled with silly jokes, Minecraft references, and an oddly surreal Minecraft world, complete with the game's various creatures and our human heroes. And while this might not be the film those who have grown up with Minecraft and are now adults would want, it's a great service to younger audiences who are closer to the beginning of their own Minecraft journeys.
The Minecraft movie follows a pretty simple premise. Many years ago, a man named Steve (Black) somehow wound up in the Minecraft Overworld via a portal from Earth. It was his dream come true, as he loved to build, and he made it his new home. Some years later, he's become a prisoner of Malgosha (Rachel House), a piglin witch who commands the hordes of gold-hungry pig characters in an effort to take the Overworld as her own, gobbling up all of its gold. Fast-forward to modern day, when four other humans wind up in the Overworld, leading to an adventure to help an escaped Steve save the cubic paradise he loves.
It's a group quest-based movie, which we've seen based on other games to varying levels of success. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves did it well. Borderlands, not so much. Minecraft is somewhere between the two, closer to the former rather than the latter. That's thanks in large part to the film understanding the audience it's aiming for. Instead of adult players who have sunk hundreds of hours into meticulously creating a well-kept realm of elaborate builds, it's for younger gamers who are still figuring out everything there is to know about Minecraft--those who love the sort of humor Black uses in voicing Bowser in Super Mario Bros. or even Jim Carrey's performance as Robotnik in the Sonic movies.
In fact, A Minecraft Movie's Steve plays like an early-2000s Jack Black character in the same way Sonic's Eggman feels as if it's a role Jim Carrey played in the '90s. Black's Steve is a goofball who is obsessed with the Minecraft world he's been living in. He yells about everything, shouts his own sound effects, and feels right at home in his bizarre adopted world. And when his new human friends wind up in the Overworld with him, he finally has a chance to show off everything he's proud to have figured out during his time there.
The new humans are a mixed bag. On the positive side, Momoa as retired video game champion Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison is near-perfect. Imagine the bravado of Momoa's Aquaman wrapped up in the body of a guy who is consistently failing at life, stuck trying to relive his glory days as an arcade-game champion in a world now devoid of arcades. He's funny throughout, is often the butt of the joke over his spiraling life and need to feel celebrated, and yes, he wears that excellent pink fringe jacket throughout most of the movie. The Garbage Man is the best-drawn character in the movie.
The rest of the cast is not defined nearly as well. Natalie (Wednesday's Emma Myers) and Henry (Just Mercy's Sebastian Hansen) are siblings coping with the loss of their parents, having moved to a new city to push forward. Natalie finds a job as a social media lead for a company that clearly has no social media presence, while Henry lands in a new school with no friends and a love of building--much like Steve. Peacemaker standout Danielle Brooks plays Dawn, the realtor who helped them find their new home. There's not much else to say about these characters, as they are left pretty one-dimensional. And the performances are decent, but don't elevate the material.
They often feel like add-ons to the wacky hijinks of Steve and The Garbage Man, though Henry takes to the Minecraft world rather quickly, figuring out how to craft items and build structures. Given how Henry and his sister are introduced, though, you might be expecting them to play a more central role to the plot. That movie wouldn't be as quick and silly as this one, though.
And that's the point. During my screening of the film, provided by Warner Bros., I was among a theater full of families. The kids were laughing pretty nonstop throughout the film. The humor was aimed at them, and it hit the mark head-on. Beyond that, they were genuinely thrilled by all of the in-world Minecraft references, characters, and elements pulled from the game. And for adults, there were cameos and surprises that leaned toward entertaining an older audience more than a young one.
As an adult who has spent, arguably, too many hours playing Minecraft, I found myself somewhere in between these two audiences. I loved getting to see a real-world Minecraft, watching villagers interact with humans, and even things like chicken jockeys--baby zombies riding chickens--attacking the characters. I loved the various sound effects pulled directly from the game and watching actual humans reacting to the hissing of a creeper's lit fuse moments before it exploded. But my enjoyment came from more than just Minecraft references, as I also loved the extended cameo by Jennifer Coolidge (White Lotus) as the vice principal of Henry's school, along with a few other surprises that are too good to spoil.
Of course, not everything about Minecraft connects as intended, though. In fact, the biggest miss is what feels like a reaction to the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. In that film, Black's Bowser sings the song Peaches, which went on to become a hit in the wake of the film's release, snagging Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards nominations.
In A Minecraft Movie, Black has a few different musical moments, none of which stick the landing. Instead of being catchy tunes that fit within the framework of the film and make the surrounding moments better--as in The Super Mario Bros. Movie--Black's songs in this movie were forced and ill-fitting.
Additionally, there are a few moments of humor in the movie, directed by Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre helmer Jared Hess, that feel less genuine to Minecraft and more to Hess's own personal brand of randomized humorthat felt more like his personal comic sensibilities than something that served the movie. One particular joke about Steve carrying cheese in his pocket came out of left field, had no purpose, and was not followed up on whatsoever. It concerns a specific type of cheese, while in Minecraft there's just "cheese." Leaving the theater, I found myself wondering why, exactly, that joke made sense for the film. It wasn't about Minecraft and it wasn't about the characters. It was just there during one of the movie's dramatic moments, adding absolutely nothing to one of the most action-packed sequences of the film. In fact, at best, it's a distraction from what's going on for the sake of a mediocre joke.
And while these nitpicks may bother some viewers, they weren't enough to sour me on the movie. I enjoyed this big, colorful adventure, stuffed with references to a thing I love. This movie isn't going to walk away with a slew of Oscars, but it should highly entertain its intended younger audience. And if you're like me, a big kid who still plays Minecraft and often enjoys Jack Black's goofy sense of humor, you're in for a fun ride. When the first trailer for this movie dropped, I had a good idea of what to expect from A Minecraft Movie. And I'm glad to say, for my tastes, it met those expectations well. What's more, it left me wanting another adventure into the Overworld with these characters. So as you sit down in theaters this weekend, it's time to let your sense of childhood wonderment take over for a little while. I don't think you'll regret it.
