The hit 2009 video game Minecraft and its recent movie adaption “A Minecraft Movie” are not the same. One is an indie-game turned billion-dollar franchise because of its appeal to all ages and demographics, the other is a simulacrum that falls flat whenever compared to its source material.
“A Minecraft Movie” follows a mismatched group of people who find themselves transported into the Overworld (i.e. Minecraft) after combining two artifacts.
The film opens with a prologue, with narration by Steve (Jack Black). Steve leaves the real world for the Overworld, creating a life for himself. Unfortunately, after discovering the Nether, he is imprisoned by Malgosha, a tyrannical ruler who hates creativity.
Each character fulfills some sort of archetype that would be expected in a film like this. Since the film attempts to appeal to all audience members, there is no one central protagonist, but viewers are constantly aligned with Henry (Sebastian Hansen), the intelligent and creative younger brother of Natalie (Emma Myers). Undeterred by living in small-town Chuglass, Idaho, Henry quickly makes a name for himself by building a rocket that smashes into and destroys part of the factory that Natalie works for.
Henry represents the general audience for Minecraft: kids who have no creative outlet but want to create. By contrast, Natalie is the older and cynical sibling, who had to grow up after their mom passed away, forcing her to take care of both of them.
Garret “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), is a past-his-prime video game champion who owns a failing arcade. Detached and egotistical, Garret acts as a fun counterbalance to Steve. Both try to one-up each other through performances of manliness, which ultimately culminates into a weird will-they-won’t-they. Maybe “A Minecraft Movie 2” will take the bromance further.
Dawn (Danielle Brooks) is the real estate agent for Natalie. She finds herself dragged into their situation when Natalie asks for her help finding Henry.
With a large cast that try to fit into every demographic of audience member, the film suffers with little-to-no development for any of the characters.
The only performance that stands out is Momoa’s. With his brash attitude, most of his jokes work.
By contrast, Black’s performance as Steve is wholly obnoxious. As a character, Steve can be summarized as having two traits: Trying to be cool, but failing horrendously; and over exaggerating the pronunciation of any word.
The film is directed by American filmmaker Jared Hess. He is mostly renowned for his debt film “Napoleon Dynamite.” The film is an indie coming-of-age comedy film with witty humor and a feel good message.
Elements of “Napoleon Dynamite” trickle into this film, but Hess’ direction comes off like a dad trying to relate to his pubescent son with whatever vernacular he thinks will get a reaction. Put simply: the film is out of touch with its core audience.
By all means, “A Minecraft Movie” is guaranteed to be a success. With a big cast, $150 million budget and heavy marketing, the film is already breaking box office records in the first opening week.
While the film provides an interesting depiction of how a Minecraft movie might look, it ultimately fails in capturing any of the magic from the game.
“A Minecraft Movie” released on April 4.