After years of hints and teasing, on Sept. 4, Warner Bros. Pictures has officially released the first trailer for their “Minecraft” film adaptation “A Minecraft Movie.”
From this first look, the plot seems to revolve around four live-action main characters who are transported to the world of Minecraft, which is conveyed using mostly computer-generated graphics, though one scene seems to feature a practically-represented crafting table.
The choice to have live-action characters interacting with a CG environment could certainly work, especially because the environment itself looks good. The villages, the mountains, and the trees all faithfully capture the game’s blocky aesthetic, but have higher-fidelity textures and lighting appropriate for a theatrical release. The message of this movie will likely have something to do with using creativity to overcome obstacles, which I think is an appropriate theme for the movie adaptation.
Besides a solid theme and a nice-looking world, the trailer for “A Minecraft Movie” gave me very little else to be excited about. While it’s not even a minute and a half long, the trailer is oversaturated with the same predictable, overdone movie trailer tropes that we’ve been force-fed for the last 10 years. They’re all here: an orchestral remix of a pop song, animals making funny faces and noises, snarky Marvel Cinematic Universe-esque one-liners, and an appearance from Jack Black.
Amazingly, the trailer for “A Minecraft Movie” somehow also fails at pandering to “Minecraft” fans. The few direct “Minecraft” gameplay references are either the most surface-level nods possible or are simply inaccurate. For instance, at the 30 second mark of the trailer, Jason Momoa’s character crafts an item that seems to be two buckets connected by a chain. Such an item has never existed in Minecraft and cannot be crafted. Whether an attempt to play to the creativity theme or due to pure lack of understanding, this inaccuracy does not bode well for how faithful “A Minecraft Movie” will be to its source material.
Our first look at “A Minecraft Movie” is a bleak one. The only thing the trailer puts on display is a lack of appreciation for the game it’s based on and total conformity to the trite formulaic writing that characterizes the modern kids movie blockbuster. Needless to say, I am not optimistic. I don’t think that such fundamental flaws can be adequately addressed by its April theatrical release.
“Minecraft” was a significant part of my childhood, and it is extremely special to me and the millions of people whose lives it has touched. It’s disheartening to see a game that owes its existence to human creativity, adapted into something so creatively bankrupt.
