A world created in Minecraft. Photo provided by Flicker. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
The popular video game “Minecraft” is receiving a movie set, planned for 2025. The story will follow a group led by a young girl as they face challenges and explore the fictional world. The director, Jared Hess, has directed other famous films such as ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ and ‘Nacho Libre.’ The film was never intended to be produced by Hess, as it was originally Shawn Levy’s.
Levy made “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Free Guy”, all of which are action/comedy. Hess excels at comedies but has yet to direct an action movie. This film is expected to make some jokes which I am expecting to be stronger than the action aspect which I believe will be dull. I think this is going to be a huge project that could have been a better-quality film if it was with its original director, who can both capture comedy and action in a film without one being heavier than the other.
Actor Choices
Jack Black, who has starred in popular projects like “The School of Rock” and “Kung Fu Panda” will portray the protagonist named Steve. This is a poor choice for Black as he is widely known as a comedian. He has acted and starred in many comedy movies. Although he is an experienced actor, I do not believe he should be cast in this role, as his expertise is not in the action genre.
A few other stars who will be in this upcoming film include Emma Meyers, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Mamoa and others. While this is a strong cast with notable names, this is not a good fit for the movie. Mamoa sticks out to me the most, seeing as in most projects he has played edgy characters. The character he will be playing in this upcoming movie is different from previous characters he has portrayed.
What It Relates Too
From what has been said about this movie so far, the plot will be about people who are transported to a game. This has been done many times, most recently “Free Guy” attempted this cliche. I do not think that this is a good idea for a story because it will just be lumped together with other movies that follow the same storyline. A better way of paying tribute to fans and having a more creative plot would be to explore the world with existing characters rather than reusing an idea that has been done many times before.
With the recent rise of film adaptations from video games, many people are split on their opinions for this upcoming movie. The first teaser was released on September 4 and has received over a million dislikes on YouTube. Long-time fans of the video game have expressed that they are unimpressed with the content that they have seen so far. While there is not much out about this movie, from what I have seen, I think this movie will be very outdated. This movie would have been more interesting if it had been released in 2014, around the time the video game was at its peak.
Flim Expectations
Though I do not have high hopes for this movie, I do believe that all the actors are talented and will hopefully be able to capture their characters well. The director has just enough creative freedom to pivot the outcome of the movie, and for production to market the movie to be sort of cringe-worthy. With the right marketing, I think this movie has the potential to find the middle ground and make it enjoyable for loyal fans and also welcome casual watchers.
