On November 18, 2011, the first full version of Minecraft launched, and by October 2023, it had sold over 300 million copies. Now, decades after its initial release, comes the movie no one was asking for, A Minecraft Movie.

The film begins with a voiceover from Steve (Jack Black), who admits he always loved the idea of working and exploring mines as a kid. When he grows up, Steve enters the mines and digs his heart out until he discovers a mysterious blue glowing cube. Fiddling with the cube, Steve opens a portal and enters a magical new place called the Overworld, a block-based land where he can create almost anything he imagines.

For years, life has been good. Steve creates all sorts of inventive and interesting things with his best friend, a wolf named Dennis, by his side. However, one day Dennis and Steve discover a new portal that transports them to “The Netherworld,” a dark, terrifying realm. This strange new world is ruled by an evil giant pig sorceress named Malgosha, voiced by Rachel House. Malgosha wants nothing more than to spread her rule to the Overworld by using Steve’s cube. To do so, she orders her piglins to kidnap Steve. Fortunately, Dennis escapes with the cube, returns to Earth, and conceals it in Steve’s bedroom.

Years pass, and the cube ends up in a storage unit that’s bought by Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), a past-his-prime gamer from the 1980s who now owns his own eclectic video game store. When Henry (Sebastian Hansen), the new kid in town, enters his shop and starts tinkering with the cube, they open up the portal and are transported, along with Henry’s sister Natalie (Emma Myers) and a local realtor named Dawn (Danielle Brooks), to the Overworld.

In the ensuing chaos, Garrett accidentally damages the cube. The group’s only hope of getting back home is to help Steve, who just escaped his imprisonment, stop Malgosha from snatching the cube and ruling Overworld.

Silly, loud, and incredibly goofy, A Minecraft Movie is a colorful, uninventive adventure that may appeal to some fans of the game and children under nine but has nothing to offer anyone else. It’s a mindless mess of a film that lacks heart and features over-the-top, cartoonish performances.

Jack Black IS Jack Black as Steve, the annoying inventor who jeopardizes the magical world of Overworld and then must fight to save it. The character’s foolishness and tendency to jump into idiotic songs is painful to sit through and not at all funny. In short, his schtick is old.

Jason Momoa is the only positive element of A Minecraft Movie as Garrett, the once-famous video gamer who is in way over his head but still tries to pull off being cool. Momoa goes all in with his over-the-top performance and is the only character with a few humorous lines.

Even the design and look of the film are unimpressive. The lack of imagination on the screen is more than disappointing. A Minecraft Movie is dull and lacks creativity; it’s not worth your time. Avoid it.

GRADE: D

Rating: PG for some scary images, languange, suggestive/rude humor, violence, and some action
Release Date: April 4, 2025
Running Time: 1 hour 41 minutes
Directed By: Jared Hess
Studio: Warner Bros Pictures

• Coming to Max in June 2025