sof-writez

[sof-writez]

Rewriting The Minecraft Movie because what the hell is that...

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I'm sure you've all seen the Minecraft Trailer at this point, who hasn't, honestly. Like everyone else, I feel absolutely disappointed, almost insulted by what the movie seems to be; a pointless cash grab for 6 year old's. 

The CGI looks cheap, the characters look incredibly out of place and why do the animals look like that? Why are they making them boxy and realistic at the same time ? With high resolution fur? it doesn't work. Who made Jason Momoa wear that goofy ahh fit? Why, just so many why’s.

It is possible to do a video game movie adaptation well, we've seen it last year with FNAF. And Sonic...to a degree.

FNAF It was original and yet it felt like it was made by fans for the fans. There were so many small references, things were left unanswered and it also incorporated elements of fan culture. There were guest appearances, fan theories, just features reflecting the fan culture around the game.

Minecraft on the other hand; Jesus. It feels incredibly surface level. Of course you cannot compare the intricacy of the FNAF lore to Minecraft , but I feel like in terms of fandom culture, Minecraft has a greater following and a long running history among the fans. The game is over a decade old after all so the fandom for sure deserves justice. 

Either way, complaints aside, my red flag is that I believe I can do the work of trained professionals better, so hey, why don't I rewrite the Minecraft movie? 

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I feel like there are 2 routes you can take with this. The fun one and the horror one.Let me explain;

The fun one, similarly to the trailer, is targeted at a younger demographic. I can see it being similar to the Jumanji reboot Movies. 

You have characters transported by some unexplained means into the Minecraft world. 

Like in the trailer, we will keep the main cast as they are; live action. Let's say, for easier production and promotion purposes. However, the scenery will have to change. It cannot be the usual Minecraft look since that would clash with the actors too much. It cannot be the movie look because it looks sloppy, i can't even quite explain why, it looks bad. Maybe because the bright colors clash with each other too much in comparison to the og Minecraft color scheme, where all the colors aren't trying to be so cheerful. 

(for comparasion)

But instead what we can do, and look, here's the first reference to Minecraft culture, is take inspiration from the many texture packs of Minecraft;

The actors would still stand out but it would look less artificial, less out of place.

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Back to the plot line, the characters in the game run around all panicky because night is coming, you know, like the classic game play everyone experienced. They slowly start figuring it out, in the process they (and audience simultaneously) get to explore the various biomes of this new world.

There can be references to the creatures and biomes we know, but they can mix it up with some new stuff, like bugs or animals that can be found in texture packs made by fans. 

In the process, they start seeing signs of life, ya know, holes that look suspiciously human, weapons, at the bottom of a deep hole.

They eventually find this person, his name is Steve. See where I'm going with this…

Steve explains that like them, he has been stuck in the game for a while.

We can throw in a nice little reference to the previous Minecraft versions as he describes how the Minecraft world has changed over the times he's been there. From the first simple version of Minecraft, to the recent version of Minecraft, new animals, biomes and all. Steve knows that the longer he stays there, the more the world develops and new potential threats appear. Steve also tells them that he thinks he knows how to get out of the game; by defeating the ender dragon, but he can't do it alone. Now, it transitions to almost a road trip movie, where they need to go through all the steps to find and defeat the ender dragon. 

To be fair, there's a very probable chance that i just described the plot of the Minecraft movie. It's the most cliche, predictable version. It's also somewhat true to Minecraft game plays.  But, I feel like the ‘fun’ movie should not include cliche dialogue and jokes made for 6 year olds.

Yes this might be a movie targeted at kids, but Minecraft also has a very popular and active adult fanbase. These people will go see the movie because it's also their childhood, and these very same people will also make hate videos on it, if this movie flops. So the older audience shouldn't be overlooked! They should be the target demographic of this movie!

Speaking of, we now move on to the horror version. 

This one is more for the adults than the kids now.

You know how many people say that after playing Minecraft on multiplayer, playing single player again feels frighteningly lonely. This would be based on that. So in this version, one single player appears in the Minecraft world.

Since most of the funds wouldn't go into casting A tier actors, they would go into the CGI of the world for example. In this version, you could tell multiple stories simultaneously,

For example different people spawning in different Minecraft biomes. You can have them struggle as they’re attacked, you can have panic as they appear in this lifeless silent world and try to make sense of it.

You can also take it a step further and introduce Minecraft villagers as these stagnant beings that don't really interact with the players until they’re provoked. There's a lot of horror potential there.

It could be backrooms-esque as the players find themselves in these infinite landscapes with no signs of life. For example they could be convinced they're in an enclosure since they can see the mountain's end and the ocean horizon cut short, but whenever they move forward, the front expands and the back vanishes again. 

You can try telling 2 stories from 2 different people's point of view but when they meet, their stories merge into one as they try and figure out where they are and most importantly how to get out together. You could make it a point to highlight how the 2 people were absolutely desperate to hear something, to just escape the drowning silence and when they meet, they’re both so spooked from the overbearing silence, they both make it a point to talk to each other as much as possible to just fill the void with something. 

You can then maybe introduce a third person who’s been there for longer or a lot shorter, how their new perspective would change the dynamic the 2 had developed. And together, again, they try to get out. 

You can maybe bring Minecraft witches in there, Have them be another threat they have to overcome or act as a guide. 

Enderman, zombies...

Maybe, as the minecraft lore suggests, the zombies were once Steves. The players then need to get out before they themselves turn into zombies. 

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So yes, this movie would also have a lot of potential as a horror or psychological thriller movie. 

All in all, It just depends on which demographic is more important for you. If you're more interested in producing another lifeless cash grab because you know the kids will go, buy the merch and get you money, or are you willing to put in the work and make a legitimately good movie. One that more than 1 demographic can enjoy. 

At the end of the day, maybe we're all haters, and if we look past…everything....we saw in the trailer, there will be a decent movie.

But, if what we saw in the trailer was their best of the best, i don't see it as being much of anything.