A Minecraft Movie Review: A Diamond in the Rough or a Soulless Dirt Block?

Krish Kapoor, Aditya Kumar, Aryan Rane, and Luke Berard • May 14, 2025

“Chicken Jockey,” the iconic character from the hit video game is shown on screen moments before the audience erupts into chaos. Photo credit of Muhammad Ali

Mojang Studios ‘ “A Minecraft Movie” came out Friday, April 4 and made a mind boggling $157 million in just its opening weekend. It broke the world record for the highest grossing domestic opening weekend for a video game movie, a record previously held by “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”

Directed by Jared Mess and shot in Auckland, New Zealand, “A Minecraft Movie” was expected to be popular based on the hit video game.

According to longtime fans of “Minecraft” universe, the movie was deserving of its overwhelming hype and positive reception, though some official movie critics have rhymed a much different tune, harshly criticizing many parts of the movie and giving it a low score.

Reviews/Thoughts

“The atmosphere felt almost electric with how engaged the audience was,” Aryan Rane, a senior at JFKMHS states. “The movie theater was packed with teenagers, kids and even adults who were ready to watch their favorite video game on the big screen and recall all the good times they had playing the game.”

For audiences that have never played the videogame, some game references could be confusing, but the storyline is still enjoyable.

“I never played ‘Minecraft,’ as I wasn’t fond of the blocky texture of the game but as my friends, who did [grow] up playing the game, planned for this movie, kept assuring me that the movie is gonna be very enjoyable, even for those who haven’t played it before,” Aditya Kumar states. “I went to the movie with low expectations and thinking I couldn’t possibly enjoy it, as I won’t get any references, but lo and behold, I gave it a chance and it actually surprised me. The audience screaming at the iconic scenes made it incredibly enjoyable, and even the movie itself was pretty fun.”

The movie received positive reviews from some other critics as well, receiving a 9/10 on IGN and 93% on Metacritic, with major social media coverage, especially from popular YouTubers and other influencers.

Rating

The Torch rates “A Minecraft Movie” 9/ 10

About the Contributors

Krish Kapoor

Krish Kapoor is an 18-year-old senior at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School who is a staff member/contributor for the schools news outlet, The Torch. He is set to graduate in 2025 and currently is in his first year of journalism. He took journalism as a recommendation by many of his friends who described the class as a fun, unique experience that would expose him to new things in an unorthodox way. In his free time, he is an avid gamer on the PS5 that loves to play big hits like “Elden Ring”, “Marvel Rivals”, “Phasmophobia”, “Subnautica” and much more. He’s also a regular gym goer that loves to exercise everyday and listen to music. He’s hoping to maybe go into the medical field and become a doctor.

Aditya Kumar

Aditya Kumar is a senior at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, this is his first year taking a journalism class and first year as a contributor to the The Torch. Aditya took journalism as a way of expanding what he knows in writing articles. His friends told him it was a very enjoyable, fun course where there is tons to learn and expand on . Aditya likes drawing, watching movies, listening to music and hanging out with friends. His two favorite fast food restaurants are is Chick-Fil-A and Popeyes and his favorite movie is “Prisoners” by Denis Villeneuve. Aditya wants to pursue a career in computer science and live life to the fullest.

Aryan Rane

Aryan Rane is a contributor for The Torch and is a 17-year old at JFKMHS. He’s a senior set to graduate in 2025 and is in his first year of journalism. Aryan was encouraged to take the class after he experienced a period of “enlightenment” and sought out ways to expand his reading and writing skills and wanted to expand his knowledge on current events. Aryan is a fencer and plays soccer, and is a self-proclaimed “professional” half sword world record holder. He likes riding horses and further wishes to buy a horse in the future. Aryan owns a German Shepherd and likes dogs. He is trying to graduate from high school and then college, and eventually get a very good-paying job and retire to Alaska.

Luke Berard, Site Manager

Luke Berard is a senior at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School. This is his second year as a contributor to The Torch as well as his second in journalism. Luke decided to take journalism in order to expand his knowledge about different forms of writing. He loves sports, especially football. Luke has a sports memorabilia collection consisting of gloves, footballs, helmets, jerseys and lots of cards. In addition to football, Luke also loves history; specifically anything related to WWII. Luke loves watching historical documentaries and learning about the past. One of Luke’s favorite things to do is go to museums. He finds that museums offer great insight into a world that most forget about. Luke specifically loves going to museum ships due to his love for naval history. He has visited many museum ships around the U.S. and plans to visit as many as possible around the world. Luke also loves writing and finds it to be a great medium for expressing ideas. In the future, Luke plans to have a career as an museum archivist or curator.