“Anything you can dream about here, you can make!” – Steve played by Jack Black (The Minecraft Movie)

⚠️There are a few spoilers ahead, so beware if you have not watched the movie yet.⚠️

Movie Summary:

The Minecraft Movie was released April 4th, 2025 in theaters, and is based on a widely loved game by people all over the world.

One of the main characters, Steve (played by Jack Black), was a regular man from Earth who grew up wanting to mine in the mine shaft, but he wasn’t allowed to since he was so young. Once he grew up, he went mining and found two relic pieces that when put together, made a portal that transported him into the “Minecraft” realm. He was captured by Piglins from the Nether, who wanted the power of the object he has found to take over the world. Later on, a sister and a little brother whose names were Natalie and Henry and his new friend Garrett, along with their landlord Dawn, were sucked into the portal after Henry and Garrett discovered the two relics and put them together.

The Minecraft world they were all sucked into was a world that thrived off imagination, and they all have to get through this new world together and embark on a quest with an expert crafter (a.k.a Steve) after they had broken a part of the relic. They had to find another replacement piece to get back to Earth.

Pros and Cons of the movie:

Pros:

• Instead of simply having it as a “building” game the movie taps into the creativity and uniqueness of staying true to yourself and being who you are. It offers long time players and new players a meaningful movie with lots of life advice for all who are watching.

• There were multiple scenes throughout the movie that made references to famous Minecraft YouTubers who have played Minecraft for years, and have a lot of nostalgia being in the movie! Some of the famous YouTubers were were in the movie included Aphmau, DanTDM, LDShadowLady, and MumboJumbo! Them being in the movie didn’t add anything to the plot of the story itself, but was an incredibly fun few scenes to see for those who have loved and watched others play Minecraft since they were little. (Including myself!!)

• There was a scene that really touched the hearts of many fans watching the movie. This scene showed a regular Minecraft pig, but with a crown on his head that represented the Minecraft YouTuber who had passed away back in 2022 known as Technoblade. Within this scene, Henry, one of the main characters who noticed this pig said, “Woah, is he some kind of king?” with Steve replying with, “No. That’s a legend.” While not everyone will understand the reference or know Technoblade, those who knew him and watched his videos understood and many shed tears at this beautiful reference.

• The mobs in the game known as Creepers, Endermen, and Iron Golems were honestly really well put in the animation. The Creeper looked realistic and was displayed exactly how I’d expect it to go from the game to “real-life.” And for the Endermen, it looked just like how it did in the game and it was so cool to see these mobs reenacted within the movie. The Iron Golems shown in the movie are a really great representation of what they would be in real life as well, as it captures the look of the original game golem, but with moss and plants around it which was fun to see on the big screen.

• The post-credit scene hints at a possible 2nd movie to be made! In the original Minecraft game, there were two main characters to choose from, Steve and Alex. Of course, we’ve now met Steve in the movie, but in the end credits, Steve gets to meet Alex, a woman with a green shirt and bright red hair! It’s exciting to know that the creators didn’t entirely leave out other characters from the game, and are hopefully making another movie that will include Alex.

• The movie seemed to be purposely stupid and get a chuckle out of those watching, which made is very entertaining. It had funny quotes such as “First we mine, then we craft. LET’S MINECRAFT!” or “Comin’ in hot!” and “As a child, I yearned for the mines.” These ridiculous and pretty dumb quotes were obviously put in on purpose just to make the audience shake their heads and giggle, and it made me laugh so I honestly loved this addition to the movie.

• Everyone, including myself, believed Jack Black as Steve was dumb, considering he didn’t exactly fit the physical appearance of the character, and seemed like he didn’t fit into the role at all. That being said, he played Steve quite well and him playing Steve made the movie super funny and way more interesting to watch!

• I personally LOVE Jennifer Coolidge and they were able to include her in the movie as a side-story that would pop up throughout the movie. A villager from the Minecraft Realm escaped the world through the portal before it closed, and was run over by Jennifer’s character whose name was “Vice Principal Marlene.” While Henry, Steve, Dawn, Garrett, and Natalie struggled through their adventure, the villager and Marlene fell in love and even planned to get married! This was just a fun little side story to include, as it made me chuckle seeing Jennifer Coolidge in the movie dating a villager.

Cons: 

• While the movie brings me and many others nostalgia, it tends to get a little confusing, as it combines both Earth and the Minecraft realm together, along with including the personal lives of both people from Earth and characters from the Minecraft world. What I’m trying to say is the movie is a lot all at once thrown into one big ball and it gets a little confusing if you’re not really paying attention to what’s going on. Also felt a little fast paced and quick to go from one scene to another without letting the movie slowly fall into place if that make sense.

• I was honestly hoping for a fight with the Ender Dragon, which is known as the final boss within the Minecraft game. Instead, the movie was just about the Nether, which is another realm within Minecraft. While the fight with Piglins, Ghasts, etc. was fun, I feel as though they should have gone into “The End” and fought the final boss of Minecraft. Although, they may include that if they make a second movie, so I have my fingers crossed!

• The Minecraft Movie was really fun in itself to watch, but some of the characters felt a little unnecessary as they were almost annoying. I’m talking about Garrett, the video game fanatic who apparently used to be popular and rich but is now broke and out of style, and Dawn, the landlord who seemed to own an “on-the-road” Zoo. These characters were played by Jason Mamoa and Danielle Brooks. While they are decent actors, I just felt as though they didn’t need to be in the Minecraft Movie.

• I mostly like the animation in the movie, but there were some things that I wish they did differently, such as certain mobs including the Zombie and Skeleton. They didn’t really look much like how they look in the game, and just looked like a lackluster design that they threw together. I also wish they made the CGI/ animation in the movie more blocky like the game instead of being a bit more of a rounded blocky version that was realistic.

Personal Experience:

On a scale of 1-10, I give it a 7.5/10, as the movie was mostly good, but it could have been better in a couple aspects.

I had a really great experience going to this movie. The whole theater was filled to the brim of long-time fans and newcomers and it was honestly a really fun thing to see! Everyone came together, cheering at the popular quotes in the movie, and clapping and getting excited for the references put in the movie. While some may have found it annoying to hear all the screaming and cheering, it was personally fun for me to sit and see a place full of strangers bonding over one movie.

I even got dressed up for the movie, I wore a Creeper themed jacket, I brought a bunch of plushies of different characters including Steve, the Jack Black version of Steve, and a Creeper! I also brought a Netherite Sword toy with me to the movie as well. I may have bought a Creeper popcorn bucket for 32 bucks… was it overpriced? Absolutely. Was it super cool? Absolutely. Maybe I went overboard, but it was so fun to just feel like a kid again and enjoy my love for the game without being judged by anyone around me. Everyone understood how far Minecraft as a game and brand has come, and everyone was just there to appreciate it. (I saw a lot of other people dressed in costumes too btw, it was super cool.)