The Minecraft movie is better if you’ve played the game — but best if you grew up with it.
Since seeing the film on Friday, I have heard the question, ‘Is it actually good, though?’ a lot, which, to be honest, is a difficult one to answer. Firstly, because taste is subjective, and as I’ve mentioned many times within this blog, we should make up our minds for ourselves. However, nostalgia also plays a massive factor in my thoughts on the film.
I share so many memories with my younger brother that were centred around playing the game as kids. We would play it split screen on the Xbox360 whilst sitting on the carpet and played both survival and creative games together, even building a theme park together at one point. We would also watch Minecraft parodies together and some of the popular YouTubers at the time, such as StampyLongNose. To be honest, the game played a big part in our childhood. This was why when the tickets eventually went on sale, I immediately asked if my brother wanted to go on opening day with me.
So, on Friday, we went to see the film. Obviously, I knew from the beginning this wasn’t going to be a perfect film, but from the trailers and early reactions, I thought it would be fun… and it was! Whilst this wasn’t the Minecraft film many of us envisioned years ago, it was fun, and we had a good time! It had a tonne of references, humour for both the kids and the adults, and it wasn’t afraid to be silly. So, whilst I’ve seen negative reviews, if you take it as some lighthearted fun and have played the games in the past, then I think it’s worth seeing.
This is where the nostalgia factor does factor into it, though. If I had never played the games before then my reactions may have been different, and to be honest, it may not have been a film I would have gone to see. Which is why I think the reviews are so dramatically varied (if you’ve seen the Letterboxd curve, you’d know), but definitely take that into account if you do choose to see it.
In terms of the film, aside from just calling it fun, I think there are some weak points within the script, as the story loses its way a couple of times. But honestly one of my bigger problems in the film is the fact the female characters aren’t used as much as they could be, at one point they’re left behind in the village whilst they look for a map whilst the boys go off on an adventure and they don’t really come back until the climax of the film. Especially since they have two brilliant actors, I just think they could’ve been used more within the story. The whole cast worked together way more than I thought, which created some funny moments, and I could tell the whole screen enjoyed that element. Alongside the humour, the action scenes were also pretty enjoyable. They had a blend of comedy and actual action, which isn’t so realistic if you compare it to the game, but then again, what is realistic about a world made out of blocks?
So, again, to reference the question I mentioned at the beginning, is it good? That’s dependent on you. But did we enjoy ourselves? Most definitely.
Watch the Trailer here:
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