The Couch Critic
The Couch Critic is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critic brings thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critic
Gaming Meets Hollywood: The Minecraft Movie Surprise
Unexpected joy from unlikely places - that's what this week's Cinema Saturday episode delivers as we dive into the surprisingly entertaining world of The Minecraft Movie. When I first saw the trailer, my expectations couldn't have been lower. A movie based on a video game with no real storyline? It seemed destined for the pile of forgettable video game adaptations.
What I discovered instead was a genuinely fun cinematic experience that captures the spirit of randomness and imagination that makes Minecraft so beloved. Director Jared Hess (of Napoleon Dynamite fame) brings his signature quirky style to the film, particularly in the real-world scenes that feel reminiscent of his earlier cult classics. Jason Momoa delivers a standout performance channeling Uncle Rico energy, while Jack Black balances his comedic talents without going overboard. The film cleverly alternates between two distinct styles - quirky indie scenes in the real world and more conventional blockbuster sequences in the Minecraft universe.
While the storyline follows familiar beats, the film's commitment to pure entertainment value and its embracing of randomness (including Jack Black's memorable "lava chicken" song) make it work as the perfect theater experience. It's not trying to win awards; it's creating an escape where imagination reigns supreme. My only significant criticism centers on the film's language choices given its target audience - a growing issue in children's entertainment where studios seem confused about who their actual audience is. Despite this concern, The Minecraft Movie earns a solid 4/5 for exceeding expectations and delivering genuine fun.
Have you been surprised by a movie you thought would be terrible? Share your thoughts with us on social media by searching for Couch Critic, and don't forget to recommend films for future episodes! Next week, we'll be reviewing Batman Under the Red Hood as suggested by our listener Sam.
The weekend's here. It's time to unwind. Grab your snacks, leave the week behind. Blockbusters classics, they're all on the way. Let's kick it off with Cinema Saturdays.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, welcome to another Cinema Saturday episode of the Couch Critic. I'm your host, nathan, and on today's episode I'm talking about the world of Minecraft with a Minecraft movie. Before I can get into my likes and dislikes of this film, I have to go over the synopsis and dislikes of this film have to go over the synopsis. Four misfits are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into a bizarre cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they'll have to master this world while embarking on a quest with an unexpected expert crafter. A Minecraft movie stars Jason Momoa, jack Black, sebastian Hansen and Emma Myers.
Speaker 2:Now, I did not know that this movie was directed by the same guy who directed Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. I did not realize that going into this movie. I went to go see this just because it was part of the list. I didn't think anything of it, I did not have high expectations and while I did not 100% like this movie, I did like this movie a lot more than I thought I was going to. So, first of all, this movie again is directed by Jared Hess, from Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre fame, and so those movies, those movies are good because of how random they are, you know, watching them now, especially Napoleon Dynamite, you understand why people thought it was dumb. But the first time you see it probably the first time the majority of people saw it they're probably like this movie's dumb. But the first time I saw it I thought it was hilarious, just because of how random it was and it didn't have necessarily a 100% clear storyline. There obviously was a baseline of Napoleon being a friend to his friend, pedro, but other than that there was no clear storyline. Nacho Libre had more of a storyline going on, and that did star Jack Black, and so again going into a Minecraft movie, I did not have high expectations and this movie actually surprised me.
Speaker 2:I did find myself laughing a lot. I thought Jason Momoa. I thought he was hilarious in it. He played the character that I think made me realize that this was a napoleon dynamite-esque kind of movie, just as the way he portrayed his character and it kind of reminded me of like an uncle rico kind of character a little bit. But what I thought was interesting was that when they were in the world of mine it didn't play itself like a Napoleon Dynamite kind of film. It felt more like a big budget film. And then when they're in the quote unquote real world. That's where it felt more like a Napoleon Dynamite world. I thought this movie was fun. It was. Is it a brilliant movie? Brilliant movie? No, is it going to win an awards? Probably not, but is it a just fun? Take a break from reality, just forget everything kind of movie yes I think this is the definition of why theaters exist.
Speaker 2:Not why films exist, but why a movie theater exists. Movie theaters exist for you to sit and get away from everything else outside of those four walls and just focus on a, a movie or a film that you just don't even care. You don't even care about what's going on outside because you're being entertained. This movie entertained me. I know there's people out there probably listening and they're probably thinking Nathan, this movie was stupid, it's brainless, the storyline has been done before and those people would be right, right, you know, you gotta, you gotta learn to use your creativity, use your imagination. Don't ever get too old to be imaginative or creative. Yes, that storyline has been done before and done before and done before, but this movie was just fun to me and I loved how random it was. I love that there were random songs in it. Like I said, jason Momoa was great.
Speaker 2:Jack Black I was worried by the trailers because Jack Black is one of the actors that is kind of like Will Ferrell. When you first watched Will Ferrell movies, you thought he was funny and you thought he was clever. Same thing with Jack Black. You have School of Rock. You have other things that he's been in, nacho Libre, even, even and you remember those movies and you're like man. I remember jack black was fun, he was funny, but now he just seems like he's just over the top. But I actually enjoyed him in this movie.
Speaker 2:I ain't gonna lie, I liked, I liked this movie. I liked a minecraft movie. And if you told me when the trailer came out originally that I would like this movie, I would have said no, no, it looks it, it looks terrible, looks dumb, it looks like a movie that you're like why does this movie exist? But then I wanted to go see it. See, and here's my thing, just like how I still want to go see Snow White, even though I had heard all this negative press about it. I am still going to give a movie the negativity surrounding Snow White and I still went to go see it because I'm willing to give a movie a chance. And yes, I still disliked Snow White and this movie is the same, except I did not dislike a Minecraft movie.
Speaker 2:I thought it was fun, I thought it was inventive, I thought it's taking a video game that has somewhat of like characters, like steve, but it doesn't really have a storyline to it, from what I know, I I have tried to play minecraft before and I got really frustrated because I wasn't good at building stuff and I wasn't good at using the weapons that they give you to fight off the creepers and stuff like that. So you're going into this already thinking, well, where can they go with this? Because this game doesn't have a story, a clear storyline anyway. So where in the world can they go with this? They chose to go with, you know, using your imagination, to do whatever, whatever it is you want, and I didn't mind that they went that direction, to be honest, because, like I've said multiple times during this episode, it was a fun movie. I don't the only the only thing I didn't like and this is a big pet peeve of mine when it comes to studios making live action kids movies nowadays, because to me again, minecraft is a video game.
Speaker 2:Majority of the people who play it are children, young kids, teenagers, so you're gearing this towards that audience, I'm assuming, even though you have Jack Black in it and you have Jason Momoa. I guess some kids like Jason Momoa. But then there's the language in the movie. There's even like there's a song that Jack Black sings which is being played over and over again about the lava chicken. That's how random this movie is and I didn't mind it. But there's a song and he uses H-E double hockey stick within the lyrics of the song and so I'm just sitting there thinking so if a kid watches this movie, they think that song's funny because it is, it's random, it's funny no-transcript, and they actually sing the actual words to the song. That's where I'm like I don't understand. And it goes back to what I said, I think, during the Snow White episode, when I started talking about, you know, disney doing live-action versions of their movies and they're doing Lilo and Stitch and in the trailer one of the characters says what? The H-E-double hockey stick.
Speaker 2:And I'm just sitting here thinking this is a movie based on a children's film that I believe it was rated PG because of the sci-fi action and violence and stuff. But it wasn't rated PG because of the language and they felt the need to insert because I'm pretty sure that's probably not going to be the only instance of that in the movie. So they feel the need to insert adult language in a remake of a children's movie. I just don't understand the logic. I don't understand who the audience is for them Like who? Who is this movie for? It's not for my four year old, it's not for I wouldn't think. It's not for a six year old, not for a seven year old. So who is your audience? Who are you trying to draw into the theater If it's not for a six-year-old, not for a seven-year-old? So who's your audience? Who are you trying to draw into the theater? If it's adults, okay, I can see that, but it's not because it's Lilo and Stitch and in this case it's Minecraft. You're trying to pull in the young audience and you just have to be careful what you put in those movies. It's just irritating to me and again, it could be because it's more irritating than it would used to be, cause I mean, it would still be irritating to me, but I think now because I have kids, it's really irritating because if I ever want to show my kid a Minecraft movie or Lilo and Stitch live action, I would be hesitant to do so because of the language in it. So all I'm saying is studios if you're listening to this, hollywood studios who want to make children's films Know your audience, know what your audience needs to see and what your audience needs to hear, and really think about it before you put a movie out there. Don't just put it in there because you have the mindset of well, their parents are going to go there, so we want to put this language in there for the adults in the room. No, no, you don't need to do that because there's still going to be kids in the room and kids don't need to hear that. So that's my little soapbox that I stand on, because I truly believe that if you're going to make a children's film, make it appropriate for children in the actions and the words that you put forth. That's all I'm going to say. But other than that, me as an adult, I enjoyed a Minecraft movie. I thought it was fun. So those are my thoughts on a Minecraft movie. I would give a Minecraft movie. I thought it was fun. So those are my thoughts on a Minecraft movie. I would give a Minecraft movie probably maybe a four out of five because it was a fun time. It is a go to the theaters kind of movie. You don't need to have any high expectations. Just go in with the mindset of this is going to be random and you won't be disappointed. Speaking of not being disappointed, we have a loyal listener. I don't know if he still listens or not. We have a loyal listener named sam, who made a movie suggestion a while back when Katie and I reviewed Batman Returns for our Christmas movies because apparently that's considered a Christmas movie and he recommended us watch Batman Under the Red Hood I believe that's the name of the movie. So, sam, I don't want to disappoint, so next Saturday I will be reviewing Batman Under the Red Hood, if that's what it's called. So you can be looking forward to that, sam, and also our fellow listeners, because I do want to start doing more movies that Sam and also our fellow listeners, because I do want to start doing more movies that people recommend, especially on Saturdays, especially since there are holes in my movie calendar for Cinema Saturdays. So if you know a movie that you would like either me, katie or both of us to watch, then feel free to send us some fan mail by clicking the send us a text link in the show notes. We'd love to hear from you, even if it's just like hey, how you doing? Or watch this movie because it's good, or watch this movie because it's not good, I'm willing to watch whatever. Okay, I probably shouldn't say that, because now I'm worried that somebody might try to make me watch something really, really bad, like Katie did when I watched Bad Santa. But I digress. Thank you for listening everybody. You can follow us on all our social media platforms. Just search the Couch Critic. You'll find us. Couch Critic Podcast Couch Critic You'll find us. Go ahead, follow us, because we always update what we're going to be doing, what we're going to be watching, on our social media platforms. Thank you very much for listening to the Couch Critic, where every movie gets its close-up. Lights are low, the screens are glow, but we'll go only movies.
Speaker 1:Know Popcorn's popping. It's time to stay. Let's escape with cinemas Saturdays. So grab a seat, let the credits play. We'll see you next for Cinema Saturdays.
