Title: A Minecraft Movie

Director: Jared Hess

Cast: Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Myers, Sebastian Hansen, Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Coolidge, Jared Hess.

Where: In theatres near you

Rating: HHH

If the offspring of The Lego Movie and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was raised by a chaotic YouTuber, you’d get A Minecraft Movie — a film that knows precisely what it is and wields that self-awareness like a diamond sword.

Directed by Jared Hess, this adaptation of the world’s best-selling video game sidesteps the earnest pitfalls of lore-heavy storytelling and instead dives headfirst into gleeful absurdity — and remarkably, it works.

Minecraft was never meant for cinema — no plot, no characters, just endless sandbox chaos, a screenwriter’s nightmare. But the film doesn’t fight that; it embraces the aimlessness, turning it into a riotous creative jam. The film is a less structured saga, more joyful anarchy — and oddly, that’s precisely what makes it work.

Jack Black, master of lovable lunacy, turns Minecraft’s bland avatar Steve into a neurotic, mine-obsessed hero with a beard and a flair for manic sincerity. He’s the emotional core and comic relief rolled into one. Jason Momoa matches his chaos as Garrett The Garbage Man, a washed-up gamer turned saviour, bedazzled in denial and fringe jackets. Their buddy-comedy energy is offset by a pair of orphaned siblings, Henry and Natalie, who ground the story with a dose of sincerity and heart. Together, this misfit quartet carries the film’s chaotic charm — especially for those who love the game’s unpredictable magic.

The plot — involving a glowing cube that everyone insists on calling an “orb,” pig demons hell-bent on conquest, and the fate of several realms hanging in the balance — is as throwaway as it is entertaining. Think Avengers: Endgame on a sugar high. There’s a crafting table that turns scrap metal into magical weapons, a villainous pig queen channeling her inner Dark Crystal, and dimension-hopping galore. It is the kind of story that does not ask to be taken seriously, and thankfully never tries to make you.

Visually, the film is a treat. The animation strikes a surprising balance between fidelity to the game’s charmingly chunky aesthetics and just enough cinematic flair to keep things dynamic. Explosions scatter cubes in slow-motion ballets of destruction- sunsets bathe voxel valleys in golden hues and the Nether sizzles with ominous neon heat. The attention to Minecraftian detail — right down to the eerily nostalgic sound effects — makes it feel lovingly hand-chiseled by someone who spent many an hour dodging, creepers in the dark.

While a few of the film’s subplots — including the one the vice principal played by Jennifer Coolidge in full camp mode — feel more like side quests in need of a skip button. But to nitpick plot depth in this film is to miss the pixelated forest for the voxelated trees.

Ultimately, this film wins not by reinventing the genre but by refusing to pretend it’s anything more than it is: a blocky, boisterous, brilliantly dumb romp that pokes fun at itself and somehow makes you care — even if only a little — about a world built from literal building blocks. It’s silly, it’s self-aware, and against all odds, it’s a delight, especially for those who already adore the game’s pixelated mayhem.