A Tale of Two Minecrafts

What Did I Just Watch

This weekend I did what a lot of parents did, and took my kid and his friend to see A Minecraft Movie.

Let me say at the outset, my 10-year-old and I have very different taste in movies.

I like watching legal thrillers and documentaries. He likes watching cartoon characters pass gas.

So while I always enjoy going to the movies with him, I rarely actually enjoy the movie.

There have been a few exceptions to that rule in the past couple of years: The Inside Out franchise is so so good, especially as a way of exploring big emotions with big emotion kiddos.

And now A Minecraft Movie. What fun.

As much as I try to pay attention to everything my son does in Minecraft, a lot of the references may have been over my head – but it didn’t matter. There was a great, uncomplicated story line; engaging characters that existed only to move the story along and not to scold audiences for their perceived intolerance or ignorance; fantastic animation to immerse you in a world of creativity and minecrafting; and, at 1:40, a reasonable commitment requirement.

There were gentle and broad lessons about confidence, being yourself, and friendship along the way, but they weren’t jammed in or clunky, and they didn’t get in the way of the fun.

And isn’t fun what kids need more of? For those of us in the Goonies Generation – where we were pushed out of the house to roam the streets and the woods unsupervised for hours until dark – we already know how unfair modern life is for our kids. Free range play is practically unheard of, and can even get you in trouble as a parent.

Even with sports and scouts and camping trips and fishing trips, the place they’re most creative is often inside their devices. A movie that brings their favorite game to life on the big screen should be fun and awe-inspiring, not didactic, pedantic, and tedious.

And apparently, plenty of American households agree.

Opening weekend of A Minecraft Movie was a huge success. According to Variety, it “obliterated expectations” with a $157 million domestic opening and $301 million global opening. Those ticket sales are the biggest debut of the year, and best-in-history for a game-to-film adaptation.

“It’s a real hit in the center of the bullseye,” said Warner Bros. global distribution chief Jeff Goldstein. “This is something the industry needed like air.”

Variety suggests there are five reasons this film was such a success, in the midst of so many failures: with mainstream actors Jack Black and Jason Momoa, it had an all-audience appeal; there were tons of marketing tie-ins (we got a Minecraft Happy Meal at McDonalds on the same day we saw the movie, for example); after a slew of duds, there was pent-up demand for a family movie; the video game boom has seen other successful adaptations, like The Super Mario Bros Movie and Sonic the Hedgehog; and A Minecraft Movie took on a life on social media.

I’d also argue Minecraft benefited from something it didn’t have, too: a public relations mess. Unlike the beleaguered Snow White, this movie wasn’t mired in politics and bad PR.

But it’s not all good news. There’s a viral trend happening with the Minecraft movie that we witnessed firsthand.

Teenagers at our showing, like many teenagers across the country apparently, hollered throughout and at one planned point in accordance with a social media trend, threw their popcorn, candy and drinks into the air.

When we left the theater I was appalled at how much damage they had actually done – mountains of popcorn, candy, cups and wrappers everywhere, all for the theater staff to pick up. After every showing.

The two young employees we saw said this was their 19th showing, and it’s the same at every one – a disaster zone. They were shell shocked and beside themselves. We gave them a tip just to show some appreciation, but with the success of the movie, I imagine they’ll be stuck with this unfortunate hooliganism for a while.

While I’m glad kids are having fun at the movies, it’s a shame it has to come with destruction and disregard for everyone else. Police have even had to intervene at several showings.

That part aside, there’s a valuable lesson for Hollywood here: make fun movies that kids and the people paying for them want to see. Leave out the overwrought lessons, politics, and stars who think their opinions are more important.