Fans of the hugely popular game took to social media to voice their opinions when Warner Bros. released the trailer for “A Minecraft Movie” on Wednesday.
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- In “A Minecraft Movie,” Jason Momoa plays a real person and Jack Black plays the “expert tinkerer” Steve, who is the closest thing to the playable protagonist in the game.
- The teaser trailer for the Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” features all of Minecraft’s typical building blocks, monsters and villains.
- However, some fans on social media were dissatisfied with the film’s animation, character portrayal, and use of CGI.
It wasn’t long after Warner Bros. Pictures released the first teaser trailer for A Minecraft Movie that fans of the hugely popular franchise made it more than clear what they thought of it.
A Minecraft Movie is the latest video game adapted for the big screen. It stars Jason Momoa as a real person and Jack Black as “expert tinkerer” Steve, who is the closest thing to the playable protagonist in the game.
With Minecraft – known for its iconic cubic visuals – being one of the best-selling video games of all time, it’s no surprise that its numerous fans had some… thoughts on the first look at the film.
The Minecraft adaptation, directed by Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite,” “Nacho Libre”), appears to blend the game’s blocky style with real life, leaving fans confused, many of whom took to social media to disparage the film’s animation, character portrayals and use of CGI following the trailer’s release on Wednesday.
Here you can find out everything you need to know about the first trailer for “A Minecraft Movie” and what the fans are saying about it.
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Trailer gives first look at Black and Momoa in Minecraft movie
The teaser trailer for the Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” features all of Minecraft’s typical building blocks, monsters and villains.
In the trailer, Momoa is Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, a man who is mysteriously brought into the world of the popular video game along with “Wednesday” star Emma Myers, “Orange is the New Black” star Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen.
Black also makes an appearance and dramatically introduces himself to the group as Steve.
Jennifer Coolidge, who is also supposed to appear in the film, does not appear in the trailer.
Watch the teaser trailer here:
What is the movie Minecraft about?
“A Minecraft Movie” is of course based on the legendary sandbox world-building game that came out in 2011.
In an official synopsis, Warner Bros. describes the plot as four outsiders who end up in the cubic world of Minecraft and must protect it from enemies, including the Piglins and zombies from the game, while searching for their way home.
Mixed reactions to the teaser “A Minecraft Movie”
Many long-time Minecraft fans found the film’s visual style to be an unwelcome departure from the pixel world that made the game so unique. Instead, fans expressed disappointment with the perceived over-reliance on CGI and the disturbingly realistic creature designs.
Polarizing views have been expressed on social media and even in some news outlets, with one writer at Esquire complaining that the trailer’s release “ruined my week.” Another at PC Gamer stated that the Minecraft movie could replace the widely panned Borderlands adaptation as “the worst thing to happen to cinema in 2024.”
On X, formerly Twitter, some users compared the images shown in the trailer with an AI-generated rendering.
Others didn’t like the mix of live-action and CGI.
Voice actor Michael Edwards criticized the decision to adapt “Minecraft” as a live-action film instead of making it an animated film.
“I don’t understand the decision to use live-action actors in the Minecraft world when Minecraft translates so incredibly well to animation,” Edwards posted on X. “The green screen here is horrific.”
Others took to social media to express their horror at the animal designs, which transformed the game’s clunky animals into creatures that bore a disturbing resemblance to their real-life counterparts.
One user on X even compared the creative decision to the fiasco surrounding the reveal of the film version of Sonic the Hedgehog, which forced animators to start from scratch in 2020.
“Realistic animation is going to ruin us all,” declared X-user TommyInnit.
And others were simply amazed at Momoa’s choice of wig.
What is the release date of A Minecraft Movie?
“A Minecraft Movie” will be in theaters on April 4th.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]
