“I…am Steve,” bellowed Jack Black in the “Minecraft” movie trailer. And I…am extremely disappointed. Nearly 10 years ago, Mojang announced that their popular sandbox game, “Minecraft,” was in the works for a film. Unfortunately, the fanbase for the game are split, and I think that it needs some work.
“Minecraft” is not known for its narrative. In fact, it does not really have one; you can build, or be anything. These past couple years, many hit video-game media have been filmed and loved. However, a large portion of the “Minecraft” fanbase (including me) believe that the Warner Bros. writers clearly got the short end of the stick, and that the movie was targeted more towards a generalized audience than towards the actual fanbase of the game itself.
Not all video-game entertainment media is doomed to suck. In October of last year, the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” movie was released and despite its negative ratings from critics, became a record-breaking movie. I enjoyed the movie because it was clearly written for the fans, and not turned into a marketing-scheme towards iPad kids. Even the “Mario Bros” movie was amazing, despite the fact that the Mario franchise does not have a complex storyline. What made the movies good is that both of them were made for a certain audience to enjoy, not turned into a watered-down story for the masses to watch apathetically.
This movie reminds me of the “Together, we are Five Nights at Freddy’s!” memes all over again. Seriously, it is so obviously a cash-grab. Mojang should use the FNAF Movie as an example, and consider the wants of their fans over money. They have plenty to work with, and could even base their entire plot off of some popular theories, yet they have still managed to make another movie that is a “Jumanji” copy-paste. Clearly most of their budgeting went into CGI and casting, otherwise the movie looks abominable. There is no story, no references, and nothing so far that have I felt was made for fans.
Why could they not make it animated, like they had with “Minecraft Storymode”? And why is the movie half live-action, half animated? The mobs remind me all too well of the first “Sonic the Hedgehog” design controversy-they are creepy and unsettling. And what will Warner Bros. do to depict zombies; will there be animated zombies, or will there be a hoard of green Jack Blacks chasing after the main characters? I feel like that would be the only thing that I would enjoy watching during this maelstrom of a movie.
All in all, Warner Bros. has to reevaluate their approach to this movie. And Mojang has to reevaluate their values for the game. I feel that if this movie continues down the path it is headed, the game will be seen as an even bigger joke and eventually so commercialized that it will not be enjoyable anymore. Fix the dang movie. It looks so bad.