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I’m not going to lie to you. When I watched the trailer for A Minecraft Movie with my kids, I wasn’t impressed.
In fact, my exact words were, “What IS this?” And, can you blame me? As somebody who has watched all of the best video game movies, I can definitely tell you when I’m looking at something like the original, stellar Mortal Kombat movie…and when I’m looking at the utterly atrocious (but still fun!) Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. In other words, I can tell a good video game movie from a bad one.
That said, as somebody who is not a big fan of Minecraft, maybe I’m not the best audience for this trailer (And apparently, I’m not the only one who’s not impressed by what they’ve seen). But, do you want to know who IS impressed? My two kids, who are both massive fans of the property. So, when I asked them what they liked best about the trailer, this is what they told me.
They Both Think It Got The Look Right
I remember the first time I ever saw Minecraft, which was long before my kids were born. My good buddy was playing it in his dorm room, and I initially suspected that it wouldn’t go very far since I thought it was ugly. I mean, just look at it. It’s so blocky!
As a ‘90s kid, I remember the bit wars. You might even say I fought in them, as I vehemently defended Nintendo any chance I got on the playground. For example, whenever some Sega fanboy would say, “Genesis does what Nintendon’t,” I would usually serve lunch detention for scuffling.
So, as somebody who grew up arguing over which system had better graphics, it kind of blew my mind that my children were perfectly content with playing something that looked like it came from three console generations ago. I mean, don’t they know what I sacrificed defending the Nintendo 64 against the inferior 32-bit PlayStation?
But, I digress. My kids love the visual style of Minecraft, and by my kids’ accounts, they nailed it with this trailer. As soon as it started, they were smiling, as it looked like a world that they might have created themselves in the game.
Also, the flora and fauna looked just as they thought it should look, and they’re happy that they went with making it all animated. In fact, I thought my kids would be upset that the characters in the film weren’t also blocky like the world, but they actually liked that about the trailer, which I’ll get into next.
When I initially learned that Jason Momoa and Jack Black were going to be in the Minecraft movie, I was nonplussed. Like, did they mean their voices were going to be in the movie? Was it going to be animated, or live-action?
Well, upon seeing the trailer, the answer is both. The human characters, who seem to be entering the world through a Nether portal (according to my kids), are in fact human, and the rest of the world around them is all Minecraft-y.
At first, I thought it would be as jarring to them as it was for me. Besides the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, which I adore, I’m usually not a fan of mixing animated characters with live-action ones.
In a lot of ways, I feel like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and the Sonic movies are the only flicks that have successfully pulled it off. In that way, I was thinking that the movie would be completely animated like the most recent The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
However, I was surprised that my kids actually liked the concept of human characters entering into the world of Minecraft, and them being perplexed by how weird all of this stuff is.
My daughter said it was because she often wondered what it would be like if she walked into one of her Minecraft worlds, so I think she can relate to the scenario.
The only complaint my son had was that he thought that Steve, who is played by Jack Black in the film, should have at least been blocky, since he is the central character of the game. That said, he wasn’t too upset, and that’s only because…
Both Of My Kids Like Jack Black As Steve
It’s really weird to me that both of my kids not only know, but also love Jack Black. This is only because my kids haven’t really seen many of Jack Black’s best movies.
Sure, they’ve certainly heard his voice, since they’ve seen all of the Kung Fu Panda movies, as well as The Super Mario Bros. Movie. But, I haven’t shown them movies like School of Rock, the recent Jumanji flicks, or hell, not even Nacho Libre.
Even so, both of my kids are big fans, and they’re happy that Steve, who doesn’t seem to have much of a personality in the game, will have somebody like Black to fill his shoes.
When I asked why, neither of my children really had much of an answer besides that “He’s funny.” And apparently, that’s a big plus for them, as he wasn’t the only aspect of the trailer that they were happy about.
They Found The Humor To Be Funny
There are multiple shots in this trailer involving animals, and in all of them, my children laughed. They also laughed when the human characters were talking (My daughter especially liked the light swearing in the trailer with the “What the hell?” line), and thought that all of the light-hearted antics made the film seem like it would be a good time all around.
Now, as somebody who falls asleep watching my son play Minecraft (I really can’t help it. The music’s so soothing), I honestly don’t associate “humor” with “Minecraft.” In fact, as a sandbox title, Minecraft is really as funny, or as serious, as you want to make it.
That said, my son does like to lure villagers outside their homes and then bury them alive, and my daughter likes to beat characters with a sword if she finds them sleeping in her house, so I guess they like the more humorous side of it themselves, which might be why the attempts at humor in this trailer worked for them.
It Looks Like It’s For The Fans
Now, as I addressed in the intro, a lot of fans of the series don’t seem to like this trailer. In fact, many fans have already voiced their opinions on social media that it doesn’t look very good.
But, do you know what? I honestly couldn’t care less what those people think since my kids were utterly giddy at all of the references they saw in this trailer. When a Creeper approaches Momoa’s character from behind, my son definitely let me know when he pressed pause on my phone. When there was a Nether portal behind the characters, my daughter alerted me to it.
In fact, even though I was familiar with a lot of the iconography since I’ve spent literal hours watching my kids play the game, they still kept explaining things to me in regards to things they spotted.
So, I honestly hope that they enjoy all of the easter eggs that are bound to be in this film like I enjoyed the easter eggs in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Like I’ve always said, Minecraft is the Super Mario Bros. of this generation (i.e. the safe, fun adventure title that pretty much any kid can enjoy), so I’m happy that this trailer is speaking to my children. And, hopefully, I can live vicariously through them and be a big kid again when I watch it with them in the theater.
But, what do you think? Were you one of the people who utterly despised this trailer, or did you like it like my kids did?