Ever since its introduction in 2009 as Cave Game, Minecraft has stuck itself in the cultural zeitgeist through social media and word of mouth. It is now the number one best selling video game of all time, with more than 300 million copies sold worldwide. Now, Minecraft is so much more than just a popular video game, with the brand worth billions of dollars through its books, spinoff games, merchandise, and most recently, a movie.
The idea of a movie for the hit video game was first introduced by Notch, the original creator of Minecraft, in 2014, when he explained in a tweet that he was working with Warner Bros. Pictures about a possible adaptation. In 2016, Mojang Studios, the company that runs Minecraft, officially announced that A Minecraft Movie would release in May of 2019 but no release date would ever come to fruition. After a switch of directors and an interruption due to COVID, Jared Hess was set to direct with Legendary Pictures.
The film was finally released on April 4, 2025, after eleven years of waiting. After it was announced to be a live action film, everyone expected it to be subpar. Controversy continued after the first trailer for the movie was dropped in September 2024, showing what looked to be horrendous CGI adaptations of the animals and “mobs” from Minecraft and souring public enthusiasm for the film. After multiple trailers, the public started to look more favorably upon the movie, and the internet spawned many memes from them. Iconic lines from Jack Black’s character Steve, such as “chicken jockey,” “water bucket,” and “I… am Steve,” hugely played up the hype for this movie. On the fateful day of its release, the movie itself would be completely overshadowed by the theater experience during the movie. Audiences clapped at every line that had gone viral, popcorn buckets were tossed, police were called, and chaos occurred. There was even an incident at the local movie theater in Narberth, where police were called due to disturbances that were created by A Minecraft Movie’s audience. Daniel Walters ’27 recounted story. “When Steve said ‘water bucket release,’ people threw stuff, drinks, food, a whole pizza… The police showed up a minute after the water bucket scene.”
While there were many comedic lines in the movie, and the audience’s reactions to the lines certainly were entertaining, the actual movie was quite drab. The plot was predictable, and in most parts non-existent; the CGI continued modern Hollywood’s legacy of distasteful performance; and the acting by many actors and actresses weren’t very inspiring. The experience of seeing the movie after all this time really was sad and disappointing, for me; I have been playing Minecraft since I was a young boy. Minecraft will presumably make a lot of money; at the time of writing, it has already made over $300 million dollars. Hopefully Mojang and Hollywood see the faults in the movie they’ve created, and, if they have the bright idea of making another one, put more thought into it. And maybe, hopefully, make it animated. Also, I am pretty sure the villagers love crushing a loaf.
