After years of rumors and memes, The Minecraft Movie finally dropped in theaters on April 4, 2025. Directed by Jared Hess and starring Jason Momoa and Jack Black, it had everything to make a movie night exciting—action, comedy, and even a zombie riding a chicken. Yeah, I don’t even know where that came from. But after watching it, I left thinking… was this really Minecraft?
To get a better gist of how people were feeling about the movie, I talked to a few friends who are huge Minecraft fans, like me. First up was Glenn, who’s much of a veteran with the game, as I’m sure most of us are.
“The movie looked cool,” Glenn said, “but I feel like it was more of an Avengers type movie than Minecraft. Not in the serious sense, but just in the action and story telling.”
And honestly, he’s not wrong. The film’s visuals were amazing. The blocky world looked alive and detailed, and the big action scenes—especially the Chicken Jockey battle—got the whole theater cheering. But the story? It was mostly basic. A hero has to stop Malgosha, an evil piglin witch, from destroying both the Overworld and the real world. Cool idea, sure, but it didn’t feel like the Minecraft we all know.
Kavali, who I know has crazy builds in his Creative Worlds, had a different take.
“I actually liked the vibe,” she told me. “Yeah, it wasn’t super accurate to how we play the game, but I think it was more about making Minecraft cool for people who don’t play.”
That’s fair. If the movie was meant for younger kids, it probably hit the mark. There were a ton of goofy jokes (some of them kinda cringey), and Jack Black as the Villager King was hilarious. But for longtime fans, it felt like the heart of the game, the quiet moments of building, exploring, and surviving, got replaced by nonstop chaos.
Preston, who’s more into the survival side of Minecraft, I felt like he was the most honest.
“I went in excited, but halfway through I stopped caring about the characters. They were kinda meh,” he said. “I was hoping they’d show more crafting, teamwork, or Redstone stuff. Instead, it was just basically running and screaming and blowing stuff up.”
That’s what really sums it up. The movie went for big action and silly comedy, and while that’s fine, it forgot the peaceful, creative freedom that makes Minecraft special. It’s like they had all the blocks to build something amazing, but ended up rushing through it like a speedrun.
Still, I won’t lie, the Chicken Jockey scene was actually insane. People were literally throwing popcorn and there were even people who brought a real chicken. But is this one viral scene enough to carry the whole movie?
In the end, The Minecraft Movie is fun if you go in expecting something wild and loud. But if you’re a Minecraft fan hoping for something that honors the quiet magic of the game, it might leave you wishing for more.
Final rating: 3.5 out of 5 pickaxes.