Minecraft Movie (2025)

"I'd believe it if you told me this was made by a *Mini World* fan — just saying whatever comes to mind without thinking."

To take one of the most creative games in history and adapt it into a completely uncreative film — all while claiming “creativity” as its central theme — is baffling. Paying for childhood nostalgia is understandable (my friends and I went to the premiere for that very reason), but I can't comprehend those who defend the filmmakers. The people in charge had a \$150 million budget and made no effort to hide the fact that they were cashing in on the game you love and the beautiful memories it gave you. You grew from a child into an adult, and this is the garbage you waited for — and you're still expected to cheer? “Fan service” really just means “fans are more tolerant than casual viewers,” but even for fans, this experience offered nothing better. It's precisely because I’ve been a devoted fan for ten years that I’m this angry.

Low-quality productions are the norm when it comes to video game adaptations — especially films. For a title like *Minecraft*, which lacks strong narrative or clear objectives, the challenge of adaptation is even greater. Fortunately, in the 14 years since the game’s official release, Mojang and other development teams have made attempts to expand its world and lore. These efforts haven't always been successful, but they’re better than nothing, and elements from some of these works have been incorporated into the film.

All that said, I had extremely low expectations from the moment the movie was announced. Even when the official marketing began, with all its controversial promo material, I wasn’t surprised. After loving *Minecraft* for so long, I figured I’d at least “taste the crap to see how salty it is.” I expected nothing more than a mediocre IP-wrapped product — and at least a few glimpses from the trailers had some redeeming moments.

Perhaps because I followed this film too closely and watched every teaser and trailer, I sat through the actual screening struggling to stay awake, expressionless. Pretty much all the entertaining parts had already been crammed into the trailers; the rest of the film felt like filler — and maybe not even as good as something AI-generated.

First off, putting Steve aside, the main group consists of four characters — two male, two female — one of the pairs being a brother and sister. The two female characters are almost completely devoid of any backstory, especially the older woman. While this film doesn't really deserve to be slammed for so-called "political correctness," the writers still went out of their way to create a painfully hollow character: an overweight Black woman who feels like she was randomly generated alongside a new world seed. By the end of the film, including Steve, only the young boy has anything resembling a complete character arc — and even that comes at a hefty cost.

Despite a runtime of just 100 minutes, the movie still spends around 30 of those on non-Minecraft-related material, and still manages to mess it up. Ironically, the subplot that felt like an *SNL* skit was more coherent by comparison.

Visually, the film’s controversial art style clashes noticeably with the traditional look of standard *Minecraft* animations. It’s difficult to dismiss it as simply “bad,” but with a budget in the hundreds of millions, shouldn’t it have looked a lot more refined? The fake-human-looking villagers, for example, are a hundred ExplodingTNTs away from *Villager News*.

The script and storytelling are rushed and feeble. The first time I checked the time during the movie, there were only 25 minutes left — and I genuinely thought the story had *just* begun. The plot structure is about as basic as it gets: “enter the world → power up → defeat the villain.” One moment they’re using wooden swords, and the next, everyone’s wielding diamond ones. Every scene made me wonder, “Was something cut here?”

The villain is just as hollow, seemingly borrowed wholesale from Gul'dan in the *Warcraft* series. The only moment with a glimmer of brilliance is the backstory of the young boy: a creative introvert bullied at school, his invention destroyed by a bully, constantly told that “creativity is useless,” leading him to reject his own passion. This, ironically, aligns perfectly with a game that is built on *creativity*, and with its fanbase full of creative hearts. And yet, even this character’s potential gets buried in the End. The more the film tries to force-feed the word “creativity,” the more I resented it.

The connection between the characters (players) and the game becomes objectified and vulgar. The depiction of *Minecraft* itself becomes thin and joyless. Sure, some irrational changes can be chalked up to cinematic adaptation, but it’s unforgivable to discard the game’s countless mechanics and its deeply atmospheric charm. The “Overworld” in the movie feels incredibly bland — there are maybe three scene changes total, which is less variety than the earliest version of the game. There’s hardly any attention paid to everyday life or exploration; it’s all battles and explosions, with barely a thought given to building or imagining.

The absence of both *C418* soundtracks also strips the film of the game’s unique and vital sense of solitude. And when a piece of the iconic title music *does* play, it’s some bizarre variation that completely misses the tone. In its place is a barrage of cheap modern imitations of ‘80s/’90s pop, plus awkward musical numbers that make *Bollywood* seem restrained by comparison.

This film feels like a clumsy product made by a bunch of out-of-touch adults who are mocking video games as they go. I felt like my love and passion for *Minecraft* were stomped into the dirt, again and again. And it makes me wonder how shallow some people’s love for the game really is — are we really so easily moved just because they stuffed in a few surface-level game references and called them “Easter eggs”? (With maybe one exception.) That’s not a bonus — it’s literally your *job*.

With such a massive built-in fanbase, this movie still stands a good chance of becoming the highest-grossing video game adaptation in history. And the post-credits scene (one of the few actually interesting moments) clearly shows they’re eager to cash in again. Of course — who would say no to such a brainless yet wildly profitable venture?

Looking back at those so-called "community culture elements" in the film is almost laughable. The success of a game like this is inseparable from the contributions of “community heroes,” yet all the capitalists need to do is ruthlessly mine profit from their legacy — just like in the final scene: five social outcasts walk away without looking back from a world that accepted them, only to make a fortune in the real world that never did.