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Warner Bros. released the 1st trailer for a live-action Minecraft movie. It looks…. really bad. This might be a long one.
Four human misfits – Garrett Garrison (Jason Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Eugene Hansen), Dawn (Danielle Brooks), and Natalie (Emma Myers) find themselves sucked into a magical world filled with block-like creatures, where the only limits are your imagination.
With the help of a mysterious master builder Steve (Jack Black), the 4 must use their wits and creativity to embark on a perilous journey and find their way back home.
A Minecraft Movie (2025) – source: Warner Bros. Studios
The 1st trailer for A Minecraft Movie focused on showing off 3 things: the concept, the live-action interpretation of the Minecraft world, and the main characters. All 3 come off as lackluster.
First off: the visuals. Minecraft has been re-interpreted by animators online for years, with every single design style imaginable. A live-action blockbuster remake had the odds stacked against it, as every fan has their own idea of what a live-action world would look like. Unfortunately, the film’s animation style isn’t just clunky, it’s just unappealing. Like Cats before it, the film’s creepy style goes beyond unfinished work and fails on a conceptual level. The animated mobs look unsettling when the trailer tries to portray them as cute. Everything about this film looks visually grating.
Additionally, the plot feels incredibly generic. In an age where video game movies have begun to finally be respectful to their source material, it feels like a missed opportunity to do a pedestrian “humans sucked into another world” plot ripped straight from Jumanji. Minecraft, as basic as it is, genuinely explores themes of existentialism, purpose, and has intriguing lore between its various subspecies. Sadly, it doesn’t look like the film is addressing any of that.
Finally, the actors. The costumes look ugly, the dialogue is gratingly basic, and everyone looks uninvested. Even Black, who always tries to be invested in his projects, looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. It’s depressing to watch.
Will A Minecraft Movie find success? Undoubtedly, but only off the goodwill the source material built over decades. The film itself? It exemplifies the worst of Hollywood’s tendencies. It’s a movie made by a committee, and doesn’t even bother hiding it.
My best friend watched this trailer with me. She’s been a casual Minecraft fan since childhood. All she said was, “It looks stupid, and boring, and where’s the Ender Dragon?”. There’s your target audience, Warner Bros.
Directed by Jared Hess, A Minecraft Movie will release theatrically in the US on April 4, 2025. The movie stars an ensemble cast led by Jack Black.
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