By Shane Mead | Staff Writer
Upon a deep dive into the depths of YouTube, one may come across something that shimmers like diamonds in the incandescence of a torch — my childhood channel. There may be some skits, Lego builds or basketball trick-shots, but the topic that reigned supreme was Minecraft.
The game took up a chunk of my childhood. I, fortunately, was one of those kids who knew the lyrics to every Minecraft cover song and didn’t miss a minute of the 800 Minecraft Hunger Games episodes between BajanCanadian and JeromeASF.
So yes, last weekend, I was locked in my seat, ready to reminisce on the adventures I once took in the historic video game.
“A Minecraft Movie” is crazy, but in ways that made it enjoyable. Unfortunately, my theater was too old and boring to take part in the TikTok trend of raving over memes like “Chicken Jockey” and “flint and steel”. This was perhaps somewhat fortunate since the movie was not stopped early, and no buckets of popcorn were slung.
The memes played a major role in the humor of this film, and I really don’t think it should have gone any other way. I mean, how could you even make a movie in the world of Minecraft serious? It’s time to have fun and enjoy the possibilities that come with a movie in a Minecraft setting — starting with the animation.
The animation in this film was absolutely incredible, and exactly what you’d expect to see on the big screen. The way Villagers moved, the flow of lava, the burning of torches — everything looked great, and came as a bit of a surprise for me considering I didn’t really see much praise for the animation before watching.
Some moments did look pretty cheesy, but certainly not to the point of ruining my movie experience. There were some lighting issues that made characters look out of place in the Minecraft world, and the flying scenes looked flat-out bad. But the cheesiness is at least expected in a children’s movie.
Again, let’s give these animators a raise. There’s some incredible stuff that I really wish they got more credit for. There were a few minor mishaps in filming live-action in an animated world, however, the pure animation itself was amazing. I can’t praise it enough.
The storyline seemed all over the place, but in my experience with movies targeted for younger audiences, that’s typically how it goes. I didn’t have any problem with the pacing and I really loved how they went about introducing the characters to the Minecraft world.
Think about your first time playing Minecraft, trying to figure out what exactly you’re supposed to do and how to survive. And then night comes along after just ten minutes, the mobs come out, and things get scary. That’s exactly how it plays out for our characters, and I thought they nailed it.
None of the acting was exceptional, and it seemed like Jack Black was just getting paid to play himself rather than Steve, yet somehow they made it fun. Whether it be stupid and funny moments from Garrett, played by Jason Momoa, or ridiculous one-liners from Vice Principal Marlene, played by Jennifer Coolidge, I found myself laughing more than I thought I would.
The one thing I think played a huge part in my enjoyment of this film is the nostalgia it provides, specifically the constant references or Easter eggs. The Minecraft music throughout, chicken jockey cameo, 20-minute days, tribute to the late Technoblade and even DanTDM making an appearance were just a few of the handful of references that remind Minecraft players of the game they’ve forever loved.
I really enjoyed my experience with this one. The reviews seem to be quite polarizing, but I just don’t think the negative reviewers get the vibe that this thing is supposed to be silly and fun.
My only regret is not seeing this opening night because the crowds seemed to be more hype than they were for “Avengers: Endgame.” It sounds funny to say, but Avengers and Minecraft are cultural staples of our generation, so next time something similar releases, I’m making it a point to be there on opening night.
