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A Minecraft Movie (2025)

There is a long running conversation about whether cinemas are dying and to be honest I don't think it is but films like A Minecraft Movie buck the trend. As of writing this review, it has made nearly $900 million worldwide making it the highest grossing English language film of the year so far. I should confess I know next to nothing about Minecraft. I know that it's very popular and that is about it. The set up of the film is Henry (Sebastian Eugene Hansen) and Natalie (Emma Myers) move to a new town after the death of their mother and Henry goes into a 80’s shop run by Garrett (Jason Momoa) and they end up in the over world when they meet Steve (Jack Black) and try to take on Malgosha to get back to the real world.

The world that they have created is really good and the $150 million that they spent on it looks like it's been spent quite well. The film cost about double what Captain America: Brave New World and yet A Minecraft Movie looks a lot better. I enjoyed how things worked even if they didn't make much sense to me. 

Jack Black is as annoying as ever. There were a couple of moments where I chuckled to myself but it feels like with each passing year, his manchild comedy routine gets a little bit more tiring. Jason Momoa is actually quite funny and the idea that something the size of Momoa is as cheesy as he is is one of the reasons why the film worked. It did remind me of how in the 2016 Ghosbusters film they cast Chris Hemsworth to play a secretary and the ‘joke’ was that someone who looked like Thor would be a secretary. Well that didn't work but Aquaman being someone who is trying to make something of his faded fame works quite well. I was told that Jennifer Coolidge was quite funny and the funniest thing in the film and she was funny but I found her ‘sub-plot’ to be a bit weak. It only really served a purpose at the end and by that point I’m halfway out the door. Myers didn't really add anything to the story. That isn't the fault of Myers but she was just sort of there and another issue with Myers’ casting is that she is supposed to be the guardian of Henry but looks about 2 minutes older than him. Maybe in a couple of years she might be able to pull off being a mother or guardian but in the case of this film it just became distracting. Hansen is ok as Henry and does have some things to do and it's his actions that lead them into the over world and does help to get them back into the real world. Last but by no means least is Danielle Brooks as Dawn. She is very likeable but doesn't really get anything to do until they are in the overworld and is quite likeable throughout the film.

I did enjoy this film a lot more than I thought I would. I think the fact that I enjoyed the film whilst not knowing what was going on or understanding any in-jokes or references that were included means that the film worked on some level. It has a very basic story and some of the characters weren't as fleshed out as they could have been but bearing in mind that the film wasn't made for a 41 year man and yet still worked meant that they got the balance right. As this has made so much money it is obvious that there will be a sequel. Sometimes seeing a film which isn't aimed at you can turn up positive results and this is one of the more unexpectedly positive experiences of the year.

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