April 4th marked the release of the highly anticipated video game film “A Minecraft Movie”. Featuring “School of Rock” star Jack Black as Steve and “Aquaman” actor Jason Momoa as Garret “The Garbage Man” Garrison, this film features an extremely gifted cast. However, the brilliant actors who took to the big screen were not the only reason the movie earned $163 million in its U.S. and Canadian opening weekend.
Across major social media platforms TikTok and Instagram, memes created from the movie’s scenes were spreading like wildfire–especially ones featuring Black’s comedic line delivery. These memes escalated to the point where when Steve uttered the phrase “Chicken Jockey” during the movie, the theatre would erupt into cheers, causing sheer chaos by jumping around and throwing popcorn everywhere.
These individual moments were certainly factors of the film’s success. Though, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more to the Gen-Z acclaimed ‘cinematic masterpiece.’ As always, curiosity got the best of me, and the next thing I knew, I was on my way to the nearest AMC theatre with a ticket to see “A Minecraft Movie”.
Going into the film, I somewhat knew what to expect. I was well aware of the silly moments scattered throughout it. However, I failed to expect the great acting of Jack Black and Jason Momoa. Before walking into the theatre, I genuinely believed that even the actors had perceived the movie as a joke, similar to how the public had.
Yet, their performances completely disproved that. Jack Black gave it his all in not only his line delivery and physical acting, but also in his vocal performance. When Steve and four other misfits, including Garrett “The Garbage Man” explored the village, Steve began to serenade them with the song, “Steve’s Lava Chicken.” Although the lyrics were simple and straightforward, Black brought lots of character and made it very enjoyable to both watch and hear.
Momoa had also shined in his performance as his dry-humor was nothing short of hilarious. Despite him being a side-character, there were not many scenes where he failed to steal the show. There were several instances where he spoke Spanish, but did not properly translate the phrases into English. Before he began flying to escape the Piglins, he stated how buenos dias means “see you later” (it actually means good morning, for those who don’t know). Such simple jokes filled the theater with laughter, and I found myself laughing with them.
In short, “A Minecraft Movie” surpassed my expectations and was way more than an extremely memed movie. The plot was compelling, and I was engaged throughout the film because of the skillful acting. If you have an hour and 41 minutes of free-time, I definitely recommend giving “A Minecraft Movie” a chance.
