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What the Minecraft Movie Teaches Us About Hype, Gaming, and Paying Attention

By Michal Wochna


Last weekend, I took my boys to the cinema to see The Minecraft Movie. The place was packed—I've never seen so many children crammed into one screening. It felt a bit like a Ryanair flight. Every scene, no matter how small or oddly timed, was met with applause. Clapping for the sake of clapping. It was hard not to feel a little out of place.

I’ve been playing Minecraft for over a decade. We even run our own family server at home. So this wasn’t a case of a confused parent trying to connect with their kids by tagging along to something they don’t understand. I introduced Minecraft to them. They play because I played.

But the film? It wasn’t great. Some bits of action, a predictable arc, a sprinkling of mobs and visual effects… and that was about it. It felt like marketing in motion—something built more for buzz than substance. And judging by the viral clips flooding TikTok—popcorn flying, kids chanting “Chicken Jockey!” like it’s a sacred ritual, police being called into cinemas—it seems the real draw wasn’t the story on screen, but the chaos around it.

I left the cinema not angry, not even disappointed—just tired. Tired of the noise. Tired of the idea that this is the experience we’re selling to young audiences now. And maybe a little sad that something with so much potential turned into so little.

Hype vs Heart

There’s a strange emptiness that comes from watching something that should be meaningful, but isn't. Minecraft has been a quiet part of our family life. It’s not just a game—it’s a world we’ve explored together, built things in, failed in, and laughed through. That matters.

And I suppose I expected the movie to carry even a bit of that spirit. But it didn’t. It leaned into the loudest parts of internet culture—the memes, the trends, the quick dopamine hits—and skipped the rest.

This isn’t a rant against fun, or teenagers being teenagers. It’s more of a quiet wondering: why do we keep mistaking noise for connection? Why are we letting virality become the goal?

The Lesson Beneath the Blocks

If there’s something to take from all this, it’s not that the movie was bad or the kids were out of control. It’s that we’re at a moment where our culture seems addicted to disruption—but not necessarily to reflection. We want to be seen, but we’re not always sure what we want to say.

What Minecraft teaches, when played well, is patience. Curiosity. Trial and error. The joy of making something, not just consuming it. That’s what makes the game brilliant. That’s what makes it last.

The movie—at least this one—didn’t carry that torch. But maybe it still teaches us something else. About where we’re heading, and what we’re choosing to value. About the importance of slowing down and asking better questions.

As a Parent, and a Player

I don’t have a big conclusion here. Just a sense that we need to keep noticing what we’re passing on to our kids—not just the tools, but the habits. Not just the games, but the ways we show up for them.

I’ll keep playing Minecraft with my sons. We’ll keep building. Maybe one day they’ll remember the family server more than the cinema chaos. I hope so.

Because in the end, that’s where the real stories happen.

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