In one of his many speeches at the 97th Academy Awards Ceremony, Sean Baker (director, writer and editor of Anora) encouraged Americans to support movie theaters to keep the special experience of watching a film on the big screen alive. Over the past two weeks, many young individuals have been showing up to theaters in droves — although I'm not sure if the phenomenon is exactly what Baker had in mind. An awkward, bland film with a budget of $150 million, A Minecraft Movie bears no similarity to the innovative, independent cinema Baker intended viewers to support. Despite the film’s overwhelmingly negative critical reception, I traveled to Regal Cinemas with nine friends last Monday to experience the film (and the energy of its attracted audience) first hand.
During the car ride to the theater, I opened up a YouTube short on my phone ranking the twenty “best” lines from A Minecraft Movie. Each line was played at normal speed and then played again sped up and slowed down. As each line was repeated, I felt myself subconsciously memorizing the vocal delivery of the words and the visual queues that came before the line itself. Little did I know, this one choice would allow me to participate in a viewing experience like no other. We sat in an empty theater, except for the back four rows, which were full of patrons clearly present for ironic enjoyment. From the instant the film started, I could tell the rows around us would make for a wonderful watch. The appearance of the film’s title card inspired raucous applause, and even before any of the film’s most memed lines were delivered, people would shout out jokes and react with laughter and joy. In one of the film’s early sequences, spider jockeys (a Minecraft creature consisting of a skeleton mounted on top of a spider) appeared, causing one audience member to shout out “spider jockey!” in reference to the infamous “chicken jockey” line delivered by Jack Black in the trailer. Shortly after, the true fun began.
I found myself shouting out the lines of the film that I had memorized just hours prior, with “I am Steve,” “flint and steel,” “the Nether,” and “water bucket, release” standing out as lines that garnered the most intense reactions. However, none of these lines compare to the audience’s reaction to the aforementioned “chicken jockey” scene. Like members of a cult, the entire audience spoke the words at the exact moment and in the same manner as Black’s character. Then, audience members delivered a standing ovation, with one viewer doing a backflip in delight and another sitting on his friend's shoulders to mimic the chicken jockey’s composition of a baby zombie riding a chicken. Popcorn littered the floors of our rows as viewers flung their buckets across the audience. By the time the film had concluded, it felt like the audience had experienced something truly special together — a horrible film.
A Minecraft Movie is both a genuinely terrible video game adaptation and movie. In their respective roles, Jack Black and Jason Momoa seem to be in a contest to deliver the weirdest lines and behavior, with each instance of attempted comedy falling flat when viewed without irony. The film’s off-putting animation, bland story and unlikeable supporting cast can’t do anything to save the odd atmosphere created by Black and Momoa’s two leading characters. Despite this, being able to sit down with friends and strangers to mock a film that had butchered an important game in our collective childhoods was gratifying. I also appreciated the opportunity to experience the phenomenon of ironic enjoyment that has skyrocketed in popularity recently as a result of social media.
Ironic enjoyment has existed for many decades, but prior to the 2020s, cringe content largely gained cult followings years after the given thing had been released and was enjoyed on personal or local levels. However, movies like Morbius and Minions: The Rise of Gru gained massive traction on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Minions: The Rise of Gru, in particular, gained a substantial young adult audience following the creation of the “Gentleminions” trend, wherein people would go to showtimes dressed in suits. Although these viewing events obviously present entertaining experiences, I do worry about some of the implications for theaters and film in general. First, the crowds at these experiences often leave the theaters covered in popcorn and trash, forcing theater workers to clean up unbelievable messes. Second, if individuals only attend theaters to support blockbuster films and cringe content like A Minecraft Movie, it could cause theaters to stop/limit screenings of independent and original film. While I recognize the joy of taking part in these exceptional cultural events, we must strive to attend theaters ethically and support films that truly deserve long-term attention.
Matthew Rentezelas is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at mmr255@cornell.edu.
