A Minecraft Movie made a massive splash at the box office last weekend. Despite its success, it’s far from a perfect movie. Even people who admitted to liking the film still think it’s caked in too many references and relies too much on Jack Black and Jason Momoa's shenanigans.
With a sequel already in talks for A Minecraft Movie, here’s a list of some things I would want to see should director Jared Hess get another run with The Overworld.
Yes, A Sequel Is Coming
First, let’s talk about what we know about the sequel so far. In a recent interview with Deadline, Hess confirmed that he has already heard rumblings of a sequel at WB Pictures. He says:
“Oh, man. Well, it would be so much fun. We had so much fun making this movie, and it’s such an expansive world in the game, and there were so many things that we didn’t tap into that we wanted to. I would have a blast doing the sequel, and it seems like there’s already talk about it happening, so I’m super excited. It’ll be so much fun to go back into the world. The fans are just having such a good time. We teased it in the end credits, and the fans seem to be going wild for it.”
While Hess hasn’t shared any story details of what he would want from the sequel, he confirms that the story could focus on Alex this time, who was teased in the post-credits scene. Hess continues, “The character we teased is Alex, the other massively critical character in Minecraft. It’s Steve (Black) and Alex, and so that’s the one that we will be bringing to the table without a doubt.”
Bring Back The Best Bits Of The First Film
click to enlargeThough critics lambasted Minecraft before it even came out in theaters, the film was eventually met with a lot of praise, not just from hardcore Minecraft fans but also from people familiar with Jared Hess's work.
With films like Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre under his belt, Hess had made it clear that he was a master of a very specific awkward humor, and many people thought that was the strongest part of the movie, from Jason Momoa speaking faulty Spanish to Jack Black randomly busting out in song.
That being said, some thought the movie still felt like there was a lot of studio meddling, which resulted in the major focus on Steve and Garrett as compared to the lead kid, who was actually Henry (Sebastian Hansen).
What Do I Want Out of a Sequel?
With a sequel comes bigger expectations out of Hess, but should it get greenlit with him again at the helm, I hope that WB gives him some more creative freedom this time.
The movie shines when it starts feeling like a classic Jared Hess film, so maybe it would all work better if they allowed him to focus on kooky characters and gags rather than big action set pieces that felt like they were all studio-mandated.
Despite the awkward humor, Hess can still make audiences root for the characters in his film, and it did feel like there was a more meaningful story for Henry that was left on the cutting room floor for more Steve and Garret shenanigans.
With the sequel said to be focusing on Alex this time around, there’s a chance they can start fresh with her story and even bring back Black and Momoa in dual mentor roles. If they want to bring Henry back, maybe they can focus on a found-family story, seeing that Hess also said he bonded with his kids over Minecraft, so there’s some real emotional stuff for him to mine(craft) there.
Though a sequel hasn’t been officially announced, A Minecraft Movie is now showing in theaters.
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