I saw "A Minecraft Movie" last weekend and it was quite the experience. How I felt about the actual movie is kinda beside the point. Audience reactions to "A Minecraft Movie" has been the main talking point whenever the film gets brought up, and for good reason, kids are losing their fucking minds over it. I've never seen anything like it, like never. I have an 11-year-son, who I bring to movies sometimes, but I'm usually the one who suggests going to the movies. This time around, my son was the one who insisted (yes, insisted) we go see the Minecraft movie. There was buzz about it at school and on the internet. Countless memes have already been made; it's seemingly a never-ending meme generating machine - this movie. And from that, an interesting phenomenon has emerged: kids want to GO to the MOVIES to EXPERIENCE THE MEMES.
I use capslock for a few reasons. Number 1. Kids wanna go to the movies? Holy shit. My last blog post from about a year ago was about how I feared movies were dying, and I think a big part of that fear is because it feels like the movies aren't really appealing to my son's generation. "A Minecraft Movie" has changed that.
Number 2. Who knew people wanted to go to a place where they can live out/shout out the memes in person? This isn't just something people want to do on the internet? People actually want to live out the memes in real life... at a movie theater. The movie theater gave people, mostly kids, a reason to sit together. There was a purpose, there was an enthusiasm for the act of movie-going. It might be an enthusiasm specifically tied to the Minecraft movie, but still, remember when Avatar made a boatload of money and everyone went to see it in 3D, then suddenly every blockbuster had the option where you can see them in 3D? Well now, there's the "meme experience". Feels like something Hollywood could potentially profit from once more, they just have to... make more movies that are... meme-able. It'll be hard to replicate the Minecraft phenomenon, but I guess my main point is, this Minecraft movie has been able to bring an enthusiasm to the movies that we really haven't seen since Barbenheimer, and this is the first time we're seeing enthusiasm from Gen Alpha.
So this sounds promising, right? Well, there's only one problem: some people are kinda pissed off with kids' behavior at the movies, and for good reason. At some theaters, they're acting like absolute animals. Also, I want to point out - it's not just kids my son's age. It's also teenagers and college-aged
peeps. Generally people between the ages of 10 to 21, mostly males. See, at my theater, it really wasn't that bad. Whenever the "meme-able" moment came up, these kids would shout out the quote and we'd move on. Now, they did go absolutely bananas during the "chicken jockey" moment, but it was mainly just cheers and clapping. No popcorn being thrown, no live chicken at the theater... things that have been seen at other theaters. I definitely think there should be a line drawn, but I still don't think the takeaway should be "ban kids from theaters." This is literally the future of moviegoing at stake. We kinda NEED these kids. Surely, we can meet in the middle? Here's the thing about the movie itself, and why it might be difficult to replicate Minecraft's success: this movie has Jack Black. Not only that, but Jack Black absolutely crushes it as Steve. He turns it up to 11 with every line he says in this movie. Every single line of dialogue, he puts a stank on it that drives these kids wild. Honestly, the biggest takeaway from the Minecraft movie? This is essentially one big Jack Black celebration. The kids love Jack Black, and by God, it's pretty heartwarming to witness. So, on one hand, you could argue the movie's success can be attributed to the IP, to the fact that it's a movie based on Minecraft, the video game. But man, walking out of the movie? All anyone talks about, or quotes, are Jack Black quotes! It's almost all Jack Black quotes... those are all the memes! That's kinda why I've been pro-crazy kid reactions... because I've always loved Jack Black and this is like one big coming out party for him. This is fucking awesome.
But yes, you can't be throwing popcorn or setting off firecrackers. We have to rein it in a bit. But, man, I'm hoping Hollywood finds a way to capitalize on this that brings an enthusiasm back to movie-going again. And I think it's very illuminating to discover that kids DO want to have the collective experience, the collective moviegoing experience, even if it's mainly because they want to act out the memes. It's something. It's a start. There have been quite a few movies to have come out lately that have been well-received. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch most of them yet, but you know, it wouldn't hurt if Steven Soderbergh can find something meme-worthy about "Black Bag" to share on the internet. I'm half-joking.
Attentions are divided, more divided than ever, we all know that, but what Minecraft taught me is that the movie-going experience doesn't have to die out. Kids still wanna get together and have fun, that's never changed. We just have to be more active in giving them a reason to want to turn out. It can't be the typical old school marketing, you gotta meet them where they're at.... the memes. Tiktok, youtube shorts, etc. infiltrate their algorithms and get them to care about movies again!
By the way, the movie was solid. I laughed, I enjoyed it. Was it a masterpiece? No, but thanks to Jack Black's utter commitment to his role, I had a great time. Seriously, it might be one of the best acting performances in a blockbuster movie in recent memory. Margot Robbie was great in "Barbie" two years ago, but she never gets to say "chicken jockey!" So, I don't know, Jack Black might edge her out.
