The purpose of a movie trailer is arguably to build hype for the film it represents. To give audiences a taste of what they should expect in theaters. To convince them to head to their local theater and grab a bucket of overpriced popcorn.
Rarely though, a trailer makes its way through the production pipeline to viewers’ screens, seemingly without any producers or executives realizing what a mess it is. Unfortunately, the teaser trailer for “A Minecraft Movie” fits into this camp.
Released on Sept. 4, the teaser trailer has garnered 32.5 million views and a ratio of 626,000 likes and to 1.4 million dislikes, as of Monday. It features Jason Momoa and Jack Black as part of a live-action cast superimposed into an animated world.
Combining live-action and animation is not a new idea. Gems such as “Space Jam,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” and “Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers” have blended the mediums well and made the mixing of real people with computer-generated counterparts feel natural.
“A Minecraft Movie,” however, does not look so great. The terrain and mobs feel like a blend of a hyper-realistic texture pack and the AI-generated “Minecraft in real life” images that go viral every few months.
The teaser is reminiscent of the first trailer for 2020’s “Sonic the Hedgehog,” which received overwhelming criticism regarding the titular hedgehog’s uncanny humanoid appearance. That reaction prompted a three-month delay to the film’s release to redesign Sonic.
Minecraft is at its heart, a simple game. A world filled with 3D cubes with simple textures and blocky mobs. The world showcased in last week’s teaser does not evoke that same charm. Instead, it feels soulless.
Critics of the teaser have been met with an argument that feels common these days: it’s a kids’ movie, you’re not the target demographic. That argument only works if you think kids’ movies are synonymous with poor quality. Good kids’ movies should, and do have, appeal for those outside the elementary school age.
“Toy Story,” “Zootopia,” and “Kung Fu Panda” are examples of films that while directed at young audiences, do not take that as a mandate to ignore quality. They prove that it is possible to have a good story, beautiful visuals, and appeal to young and old alike.
As should be expected from a teaser, not much was revealed about the plot. What we do see implies the cast will be transported to the Minecraft world and guided by Jack Black as Minecraft’s default character Steve. It looks more like a Minecraft parody of “Jumanji” than an adaptation of the best-selling video game of all time.
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