Jack Black's success rate when it comes to video game films in which he plays along has been fluctuating lately. While the Super Mario Movie (2023) will go into history with him as the Bowser as the most successful canvas adaptation of a video game to date,And thus also insert black as a claptrap at the bottom of the scale. I was correspondingly skeptical when it became known that there was a film for Minecraft next. A game that is now not necessarily known for its profound story or charismatic characters. But I would never have expected what happened in the 101 minutes of the film.
Little Steve has only a dream. Instead of wanting to become a firefighter or astronaut like other children, he sees his future underground. But of course mines are far too dangerous for children and so there is nothing left for him than to keep schooling as every normal way, only to end in a really boring office job.
But then he remembers his childhood wish and because he is now old enough (and played black by Jack Block Äääääh), nothing and nobody can stop him from trying his luck in the mine. In the event of an excavation, he finally finds an artifact that opens a portal in the upper world of Minecraft. Here he can finally live out his creativity and has the power to create everything that he only dreams of (as long as you can build it out of blocks).
After many years of happy building, Steve stumbles into the Nether and gets into the catch of the evil Piglin priestess Malgosha (spoken by Rachel House), who recognizes the sphere of dominance in the bright artifact. She would like to get her in her fingers and use her power to darken the sun.
This would also make the upper world habitable for the light -sensitive piglins, but also heralds an eternal night in which zombies, skeletons and other monsters roam the world. At the last second, Steve can create the artifact into the real world, which closes the portal and Malgosha has no way to implement her plan.
Years later, the colorful group from young Henry (Sebastian Hansen), his big sister Natalie (Emma Myers), the aging gamer Gamer Garrison (Jason Momoa) and the broker/owner of a mobile zoo Dawn (Danielle Brooks) came into the possession of artefact and also stumbled into that Klötzchen-Universum. However, they do not yet suspect that Malgosha has only waited for one opportunity to finally bring the ball of dominance into their possession.
Contains simulated goats!
Perhaps now sounds like an epic story, but in fact the plot is as thin as paper (by the way, you craft from 3x sugar cane). The background stories of Steve and Garret are briefly summarized by a narrator at the beginning and after a small introduction of the siblings Henry and Natalie, the story only serves as an excuse to be in the colorful block of blocks.
But that's not the point. The filmmakers know very well that the idea of a Minecraft film is completely absurd and therefore do not even try to put together a logical plot. Instead, there is a lot of wit with a good dose of self -irony. There is also a break in order to insert a wrestling match between Jason Momoa and a baby zombie that rides on a chicken, or Jack Black suddenly breaks out into a vocal performance without being asked. The film should just be fun and he does that too.
The best thing is to prove a scene from the film itself: after Garrett Henry saves from free fall by controlling a ghast balloon (big monster with tentacles that shoot flies and fire balls), he asks him where he knew exactly how to deal with it. Garrett's tight answer: "Don't ask!" And that is less an announcement to Henry than directly to the audience. "Yes, we know that all of this is totally illogical and nothing makes sense. So please stop questioning everything, lean back and just have fun!"
Jason Momoa and Jack Black also seem to have done that. As Steve, Black lets everything out for which he is known. Be it the exaggerated rock'n'roll gestures, the classic high screeching, which is known from so many films, songs and stage shows with him, and of course his unique exaggerated physicality. Rarely was Jack Black as much Jack Black as in his role as Steve.
Anyone who knows Jason Momoa mainly as a grumpy Aquaman from the DC universe, grumpy sword masters in Dune or grumpy ex-husband of the mother of the kite from Game of Thrones should be surprised. Garrett is a child's head who became regionally known for his skills in a video game in the 1980s and has been in charge of this time since then. Although he is also a bit grumpy, it looks more like a likeable leather jacket with fringes in his squeak -pale leather jacket than the scary leader of the Dothraki. Momoa really enjoys being allowed to let his inner child to play in the fresh air.
But only in cooperation do the two really bloom. The friendly rivalry between Garrett and Steve leads to some of the best gags in the entire film and the relationship between the two quickly becomes the engine of the entire story. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave much space for the other characters.
90% error -free!
With all the praise, a little bit of criticism must be allowed. While Black and Momoa have the fun of their lives, the rest of the cast is absolutely in the shade of the two stars. Emma Myers and Danielle Brooks in particular have nothing to do over long distances and even disappear from the film for some time while “Jack and Jason Show” continues.
The two would be convincing. But if you only have a few lines in crucial moments and most of them variations of "You are crazy!" Or "This is crazy!" are, it is difficult to show what you can do.
Sebastian Hansen than Henry is more lucky because he is allowed to hang out with the two big boys, but is still more of a secondary character. All of this makes the film no less funny, but is still a shame about the acting performance of the rest of the cast.
Incidentally, I cannot confirm the often mentioned problems with the CGI. Of course, the real people in the digital Minecraft world appear a little out of place, but they are too. Otherwise, I only noticed one place where you can almost taste the green screen behind the actors, but the characters are so small that most will probably not even notice it.
Surprisingly, the film under all the gags still manages to place a small, serious message. It is not really hidden, but is also not pressed in your face. Creativity is something wonderful that you shouldn't lock up or judge someone for it. But sometimes it is worthwhile to make out the screen and carry its creativity into the real world. Inspired by this thought, I now go to the attic, crawl out my old building blocks and play a bit analogous.
Conclusion
Wonderful nonsense without (8) corners and (12) edges
After the trailers I was very skeptical about the Minecraft film and actually typed for a second Borderland fiasco, but I like to admit that I was wrong. The target group of the 12-year-old kids, which at best really play Minecraft, will have a lot of fun and even the cheapest pups joke (of which there are remarkably few) should still ignite here.
But even if you already have the phase of adolescence behind you, the film will pick you up well. Gamers can commit themselves to the video game entertainment and for the parents who have no idea about Minecraft, but have to accompany their kids, there is a complete and incredibly funny storyline in which Jennifer Coolidge is a Villager Datet that is exploited into the real world. This has nothing to do with the real events in the film, but we wanted to stop thinking about logic.
"A Minecraft Film" is an ODE on the innocent, pure fun, creativity and the inner child in us, which has been spilled over the years far too often. It offers a wonderfully stupid film experience for the whole family and I laughed for my part almost 101 minutes. After all, that is almost exactly 101 minutes more than it was with Borderlands.
