Juggling popcorn explosions, riotous yelling, live chicken sightings and police intervention, movie theater employees are in the thick of it. Rabid “Minecraft” fans and ravenous trend-seekers everywhere are dismissing common cinema courtesy for personal meme purposes.
Five months ago, the “Wicked” sing-along discourse prompted conversation concerning audience etiquette. Where some felt obligated to join the merriment or watch politely from afar, others found their movie experience obstructed by overgrown passion.
Another long-awaited adaptation of popular media, “A Minecraft Movie,” has ignited a new conundrum. With fans growing increasingly comfortable whipping out their phones mid-movie and unleashing calculated havoc, the line between spirit and disruption blurs. The question remains: where do we draw the line?
Although there are several scenes scattered throughout the movie that draw enthusiastic reactions, the culprit in question is the “Chicken Jockey.” In the back half of the film, Jack Black’s Steve warns Jason Momoa’s Garrett of an impending threat: a chicken mounted by a baby zombie. For avid “Minecraft” fans, it’s a neat reference to a game icon. For theater employees, it’s a sticky, unpredictable nightmare.
Some opt to regurgitate the line back to Black as if he can hear them reveling. Others go the extra mile, slinging popcorn and soda in the air, at the screen and to the floor. In even stranger cases, people try to mimic the scene, hoisting each other up on their shoulders or flaunting a living, breathing chicken for all to see. On occasion, it’s gotten so out of hand that folks have been kicked out of the theater and authorities have been contacted.
It’s a baffling situation. On one hand, the kids are having fun, and are actually going to the theater for a collective experience. They are enjoying a significant part of their childhood come to life on the silver screen — the cultural impact of “Minecraft” cannot be understated. But when you have loud, messy and obnoxious groups of teenage boys — sometimes grown men — breaking the sound barrier and trashing the place to record a trendy video, a problem arises.
The experience and safety of fellow audience members shouldn’t be ignored. The backbreaking clean-up duty thrust onto the employees should always be considered.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, “A Minecraft Movie” Director Jared Hess went out of his way to defend rambunctious fans and question police involvement. “It’s weird when you’re having too much fun and the cops get called,” Hess said. “I’m just glad people are making memories with their friends and families.”
To make matters worse, “A Minecraft Movie” is creatively bankrupt, heavily processed slop. If TikTok “brainrot” were a film genre, this would be the poster child.
From the eye-rolling pop-music needle drops, abundant references and clippable sound bytes, every minute feels intentionally curated for little kids to point their fingers at because they recognize it from social media.
Young kids will adore this movie. Their inevitable enjoyment is the best part. But for others, the most amusing aspect is coming to grips with its hilarious existence. It truly doesn’t feel like a real movie.
As hard as Black tries to smirk, yell and sing it to life, there isn’t anything rewarding enough to overcome the film’s glaring pitfalls. The story is generic and cliche, the female characters are underserved, the visual effects are in-over-their-head and the jokes are hit or miss.
It might capture the look and spirit of the game well, but it drastically undersells its creative potential. I don’t know if a good “Minecraft” movie is even possible, but this certainly doesn’t cut it.
Maybe, just maybe, all this theater hullabaloo would feel a tiny bit more earned if “A Minecraft Movie” wasn’t the epitome of uninspired, recycled big-IP filmmaking.
