What happens when we think something occurred but it actually didn't? The result of knowing that certain moments or facts didn't happen as we expected can give us both deep sorrow and small joys. Well, if briefly considered, this is more or less how the memory works, specifically in our childhood. For example, what we believed was a certain size—like a hallway's wall—is actually much smaller, or maybe we distort certain details to idealize a specific moment and treasure it in our memories.
While watching A Minecraft Movie, the last crazy comedy starring the histrionic Jack Black, something similar happened to me. I felt like I was watching something from the past. I wasn't in the present. I didn't find myself in that time and place. But… It wasn't nostalgia. It was something else. It's no coincidence that the first work as an actor in the career of School of Rock's (2003) protagonist was a commercial for the Atari 2600 video game console. In the first seconds of said advertisement, at only thirteen years old, the actor born in the warm Santa Monica lands is shown exactly as how he is now: wide-open eyes, well-marked expressions and an intensity worthy of someone with a lot of experience. But yes, hardly anybody remembers this moment.
It wasn't until twenty years later that he would be recognized for his work with Richard Linklater's iconic comedy. From that moment, Black has built a career in which the word "professionalism" has vanished more and more. The thing is he isn't undisciplined nor scarcely delicate, no. Today, the 55-year-old Californian enjoys making films as never before, participating in animation projects by lending his particular, rocker voice or in adventure films in which he simply and plainly… is himself.
In this blockbuster based on the famous video game, Black plays Steve, a man obsessed with mines who waited his moment to go down to one and, when he finally did, found by chance the orb that would transport him to the Overworld, which is basically the Minecraft world, where everything is cubic and imagination flies as if by magic. There, his crafter dreams come true, but he also comes across something called the Nether, which is like the Underworld of this Overworld. Yes, the plot is generic, predictable and outdated, but this doesn't mean it fails to make us utter genuine and stupidly enjoyable laughs, mostly thanks to Black, who plays himself.

In parallel to this fun introduction, we have the story of Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison—a hysteric but good, convincing Jason Momoa, almost wanting to keep up with Black at all times—a former gamer champion who owns a retro store in the small city of Chuglass. In addition, we also meet Henry and Natalie, two young orphan siblings who move to the same city where Garret lives to test their luck. The paths of these characters interweave with the path of the real estate agent Dawn after discovering that the orb wolf Dennis had hidden under his waterbed is in a storage deposit the former Aquaman buys.
What follows is a cyclical, crude narrative that replicates tropes of the most-remembered adventure classics. At first glance, Minecraft may easily look like the result of Steven Spielberg directing with an exacerbated laziness—something that will never happen—plus a cast full of stars who steal all the spotlight, assuring a place among the funnier 2025 releases. There's not much to analyze apart from said reference to the South African former president in this article's title. The thing is this modern comedy for all ages isn't actually a "A Minecraft Movie," but rather a "Jack Black Movie."

But sure, this interesting "Mandela effect" may be interpreted in another unexpected way. I could easily think about other movies without Black as a protagonist but whose peculiar humor has actually influenced the work. Versatility or sense of belonging? The double standard tells us that, like in every art, subjectivity ends up weighting more than objectivity. You probably won't think about Mandela nor the memory while watching this light, striking comedy—but now that you read this article, maybe you will. Everything depends.
Published on ABRIL 9, 2025, 16:20 PM | UTC-GMT -3
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