First released in theaters on April 4, 2025, “A Minecraft Movie” made headlines and on its opening weekend, surpassed expectations, and grossed roughly $164 million. The film drew thousands of Minecraft fans to theaters and continues to dominate the box office. With this, after seeing the movie, “A Minecraft Movie,” it is a great movie for Minecraft lovers who want to see their favorite map and characters/mobs come to life. Through CGI, character development, and growing connections, this movie provides a good message towards the younger demographic, which the film was aimed towards, as a younger audience typically plays Minecraft, and even older audiences can find enjoyment in the fun and comedic energy in the movie.
Minecraft is a popular video game amongst teens and tweens where players attempt to survive and create buildings in a realistic, Earth-like environment. Players can choose between four modes, with “Creative” and “Survival” being the most popular. These settings dictate a player’s gameplay and abilities in the game. Creative mode is a setting where players can fly, be immortal, and have access to all blocks and items offered in the game. However, survival mode mirrors a realistic human life where players can die from battles, poison, starvation, and more. This mode does not offer flight power or unlimited items.
Since the release, social media has encouraged people to exaggerate and disrupt the traditional movie setting. On the social media app TikTok, there have been many videos of movie watchers throwing their popcorn in the air to mock the “Chicken Jockey” scene. This scene depicts a zombie creator mounted on a chicken with Jack Black as Steve, screaming “chicken jockey.” Movie theaters, of course, have not been happy with the throwing of popcorn and the screams due to this “chicken jockey” scene, and have ultimately had to ask people to leave the theater. Of course, when watching this movie, we were eager to see if this “chicken jockey” scene would influence people in the theater to throw their popcorn and scream, but this did not occur.
Now, the actual plot of “A Minecraft Movie” introduces two kids, Natalie and Henry, moving to a new town. Henry is introduced to a man, Garrett, who is very interested in gaming. They both find a glowing cube to another world, which is the Minecraft world. Natalie, Henry, Garrett, and a helper with Natalie and Henry’s move to Chuglass, Idaho Dawn, get sucked into the Minecraft world and encounter challenges, including an angry pig army that wants the glowing cube for power. With help from Steve, who is a popular character in the actual game of Minecraft, they escape in hopes of reuniting with his dog and best friend, Dennis. Henry and his friends need to get out to survive, and each character can grow and connect with new people to inevitably form long-lasting friendships.
With this Minecraft world that the characters are drawn into cam CGI, which translates to computer-generated imagery. The entirety of the Minecraft world was CGI, from the characters to the actual map itself. Characters in Minecraft, including pillagers, sheep, endermen, zombies, and more, were brought to life through the use of CGI, and it was depicted well. The characters from Minecraft on the screen were shown well, and the CGI proved to display each character in a positive light. Additionally, the actual map itself was also shown very well through CGI, as the “real” characters had to battle on it and find their way back through the map.
With other well-known actors, including Jason Momoa and Jennifer Coolidge, this movie captured the pure joy and appeal of an adventure, with thrilling and action-packed scenes to get the audience on the edge of their seats. However, “A Minecraft Movie” appealed more to a younger demographic, as the Minecraft game is usually seen as being played by a younger audience, as watching it as a teenage girl might not capture the essence of the true movie, rather than a Minecraft lover.
“A Minecraft Movie” was an enjoyable and entertaining experience for anyone wanting to see their favorite mobs come to life, with aspects of the Minecraft world now able to be experienced on the big screen.
