Debapriya Bhattacharya
Directed by Jared Hess, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ brings to life the world of Minecraft, a 3D sandbox adventure video game developed by Mojang Studios, on the big screen. The plot centers on doorknob salesman Steve (Jack Black), who stumbles upon the Orb of Dominance and Earth Crystal, which transport him to a cube-shaped paradise called the Overworld. When an evil piglin named Malgosha from the Nether seeks to control this realm, a former video game champion (Jason Momoa) and his quirky allies must journey through the Overworld to stop Malgosha and find a way back home. The world-building game is depicted in exquisite detail in the adaptation that remains true to its creative spirit. If it has piqued your curiosity about other games that have made it to the big screen, here is a curated list of movies similar to ‘A Minecraft Movie’ to check out.
10. Goosebumps (2015)
Based on the eponymous horror series created by R.L. Stine, ‘Goosebumps’ by Rob Letterman follows teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette), who moves to a small town in Delaware from New York City with his mother. Upset with the change, Zach’s mood is lifted after meeting his charming neighbor Hanna (Odeya Rush). To his amazement, he discovers that her father is horror writer Stine (Jack Black) himself, who warns him to stay away. Zach ends up releasing the monsters from Stine’s writings to the real world by accident, and it falls on the trio to lock them back again. The real and fictional worlds collide in the film, much like the ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ with Jack Black bringing balance between horror and humor.
9. The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
Mike Rianda makes his feature directorial debut with the animated film ‘The Mitchells vs. The Machines’ that tells the story of the dysfunctional titular family becoming the world’s only hope in the face of a robot uprising. Teenager Katie Mitchell is on a road trip with her parents, younger brother, and their dog before starting film school. Their family time gets interrupted when a highly sophisticated AI, PAL, declares war against humanity with all electronic devices. Like the rag-tag team from ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ it falls upon The Mitchells to save the day.
8. Pixels (2015)
Chris Columbus directorial ‘Pixels’ pays homage to 1980s arcade games such as Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Space Invaders, in a film that is based on the eponymous French animated short by Patrick Jean. The story follows Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), a former arcade gaming champion who lost the 1982 championship to his rival Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage). Footage from the event was locked in a time capsule and launched into space. Presently, aliens come across the clip and misinterpret the content as a declaration of war. They attack Earth using the games as models. For a fitting response, Sam is recruited by his childhood friend-turned-President Will Cooper (Kevin James) to lead a team of arcade players, including Eddie, to battle. The following all-out war is fought according to arcade rules, much like in ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ but with the game characters in the real world.
7. Tron: Legacy (2010)
‘Tron: Legacy’ by Joseph Kosinski is a sequel to the 1982 film ‘Tron,’ where Garrett Hedlund stars as Samuel Flynn, son of the legendary video-game developer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). After the latter mysteriously drops off the face of the Earth, Samuel spends 20 years searching for his father. A strange signal beckons him to Flynn’s Arcade, where he gets pulled into the cyberworld created by Kevin called the “Grid.” Samuel and Kevin reunite in this world and fight the evil program Clu from taking over the real world, with the help of Quorra, an algorithm in the form of a fearless warrior. The plot overlaps with ‘A Minecraft Movie’ in showing real people facing mortal danger inside the world of a video game.
6. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ is a sequel to the 1995 film ‘Jumanji,’ directed by Jake Kasdan. Both films are based on a fantasy children’s picture book created by Chris Van Allsburg, which centers around a board game whose elements come to life as it is played. In the 2017 film, four teenagers are transported inside an old video game in the form of the adult avatars they choose. Playing in the jungle setting, they face a dangerous adventure that they need to beat to get back to the real world. The film’s concept mirrors that of ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ with both showing real-world people physically entering video game realities and participating in adventure gameplays.
5. Ready Player One (2018)
Helmed by Steven Spielberg, ‘Ready Player One’ is set in 2045, a future steeped in chaos where people often escape into a virtual reality simulation called OASIS. When James Halliday, the creator of OASIS, dies, he promises the ownership of his creation to the first person to discover an easter egg hidden in the simulation. Young Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) joins the treasure hunt with his friends and fights against the evil corporation Innovative Online Industries that seeks complete control over OASIS. The real and fantasy gaming worlds virtually collide in the cinematic landscape, somewhat similar to ‘A Minecraft Movie.’
4. Free Guy (2021)
‘Free Guy’ by Shawn Levy revolves around a bank teller, Guy (Ryan Reynolds), who discovers that he is a non-player character in an open-world multiplayer online video game. He decides to become the main character of his own story, shocking players across the globe. The company that runs the game initially believes Guy to be a hacker. Upon realizing the truth, it does everything possible to stop him, even at the risk of the entire game being permanently taken down. Like the characters in ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ Guy fights back to ensure that the game world he knows lives.
3. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Based on the classic Nintendo game, ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic tells the origin story of the two famous Italian plumbers, brothers Mario and Luigi. The story opens with them struggling to run a business in Brooklyn. While attempting to fix a water main leak underground, they get sucked in a Warp Pipe and separated. Mario arrives at the Mushroom Kingdom, ruled by Princess Peach, while Luigi is transported to the Dark Lands, ruled by King Bowser. The kingdoms are at war, and the brothers join forces to defeat Bowser. The two kingdoms in the fantasy world and the arrival of the brothers to join in their conflict are reminiscent of the events of ‘A Minecraft Movie.’
2. Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Rich Moore’s ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ follows the titular arcade game character who gets tired of being the bad guy and being defeated by the game’s hero, Fix-It Felix. To change the narrative, he leaves his game in search of one where he can win a medal and prove himself worthy of admiration. However, his action has unforeseen consequences, as his game is declared out of order and falls into danger of being disconnected from the server. Ralph’s exploration of various arcade game worlds brings an old-school charm that wonderfully contrasts with ‘A Minecraft Movie.’
1. The LEGO Movie (2014)
Inspired by the massively popular LEGO construction toys, ‘The LEGO Movie’ was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The story revolves around Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt), an everyday LEGO construction worker figurine who gets mistakenly identified as the Special. Tasked with saving the world, he gets drafted onto a team of Master Builders on a mission to stop the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell). While Emmet does not know the first thing about being a hero, he is determined to give his all to try.
‘The LEGO Movie’ shares many similarities with ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ although one is based on a physical game while the other is based on a digital one. The inherent similarities between the concept of LEGO and Minecraft as games raise the most poignant overlap of all: the creation of anything imaginable with the help of simple tiles or blocks. Both films explore characters who build their way out of problems and unlikely heroes who save the day.
