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HONG KONG – As someone who hadn’t played Minecraft before, I was still excited for A Minecraft Movie.
The 2025 release received high praise online and among audiences, bringing the beloved sandbox game of Minecraft live to the big screen.
But after 105 minutes of portal-hopping plotlines, recycled one-liners that non-players failed to understand, and a villain with no depth, I left the theater more confused than inspired.
The film was directed for success. It had a devoted and diverse fanbase, a massive production budget and rich, open-ended source material. Yet, despite these advantages, the end result is a bland, formulaic adventure.
The most obvious flaw of the film is the plot. Or rather, the lack thereof.
The film follows a group of real-world humans who travel to the Minecraft universe via the overused portal fantasy trope seen in many similar movies, such as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in 2017.
From there, the story unfolds exactly as expected: a quest to retrieve the Earth Crystal, a battle against pillagers, a showdown against the evil villain Malgosha’s army that the protagonists miraculously win, and a happy-ever-after when characters return home safely.
The script lacks creativity and relies heavily on forced references to the game which appear every two minutes.
One particularly cringe-worthy moment comes when the character Steve declares, “We need to mine. We need to craft. We need to Minecraft.” I nearly dropped my popcorn and left the cinema right there and then.
The antagonist, a Piglin named Malgosha, hoards wealth and despises creativity – a clichéd villain who lacks character development and depth. And the lousy characterization doesn’t just end there.
Jack Black is a fantastic actor, and School of Rock was a masterpiece. But in A Minecraft Movie, he’s reduced to a screaming, over-caffeinated meme of himself, bouncing around like a YouTuber doing a “CRAZY MINECRAFT CHALLENGE!!” video for 10-year-olds.
Visually, the film teeters between impressive and disorienting. Some sequences are undeniably striking, with lush renderings of Minecraft biomes and clever transitions between the real world and the blocky in-game environment. But others have jarring tonal shifts and inconsistent animation quality.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect is the missed opportunity. Minecraft is a game built upon creativity, freedom, and infinite potential. Instead of leaning into that sandbox ethos, the film shackles itself to a rigid formula.
It tells viewers what Minecraft is rather than letting them feel what it means.
Younger fans may still enjoy the humor, and there’s no denying the film’s entertainment value at times, but for those expecting a groundbreaking or emotionally resonant plot based in the Minecraft universe, A Minecraft Movie simply does not live up to expectations.
Sophia Ling is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
