A Minecraft Movie Review

A Minecraft Movie is certainly what it says on the tin. From a storytelling perspective, the plot is rather basic, but the plot was never really the appeal. Instead, the movie’s success relies heavily on the nostalgia factor of the game it is based on.

The initial version of Minecraft was first released in May of 2009, with the full release coming two years later in 2011. Its popularity has only grown in the years since, with the game selling over 300 million copies across platforms to date and generating a whopping $220 million in revenue in 2024 alone.

A Minecraft Movie initially premiered in London on March 30th before its worldwide release on April 4th. With a budget of $150 million, the film has grossed over $819.5 billion in the box office and has become the highest-grossing film of 2025 so far. Reviews are mixed, however. The movie currently has a 5.9/10 IMDb rating and a 47% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The financial success largely stems from the nostalgia of the games for the older generation and its draw on the younger, as well as celebrity casting. The cast boasts stars such as Jack Black, Jason Momoa, and Jennifer Coolidge. While Black and Momoa play major roles that are relevant to the plot, Coolidge is in her typical comedic side role based on her lack of conventional attractiveness. To the film’s credit, it does also star Emma Myers and Danielle Brooks in somewhat leading roles, but several viewers complained that the girls vanished for a good portion of the movie to build a house while the boys had an adventure in the Nether.

The movie had elements of a plot line intertwining the real world, surrounding itself with the idea of Earth being in grave danger if the monsters, or mobs, in Minecraft escaped through a portal into “our” world. Desperate for money, and for any success really, Jason Momoa’s character, Garett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, dragged characters into the portal with the idea of finding treasures to bring back home. The villains who are trying to take over the real world are the Piglins, who are greedy, gold-digging pig people that live in the Nether. 

When the movie was announced, those who grew up with the game were excited for the nostalgia rather than the coming-to-life and plot aspects of a film. They were expecting cameos from famous YouTubers, the creators, and easter eggs. However, the film created new villains, created new characters instead of bringing in those they already had, like “Alex” and “Herobrine.” With how much is out about the game’s history, one would have foreshadowed the appearances of the movie, but instead it was turned into a completely different story.

The hyper-realistic look to the movie is a little rough to get through. The whole idea of the game was to create an alternate reality of our world. Most of the elements, except survival and everything as a square, are the same. Leaving behind the pixelated and cartoonish animation removed a lot of attraction from the film. Although the film was created for the younger generation, those who know the game by heart weren’t too satisfied with the film’s take on the game.