“A Minecraft Movie” is an action-filled chaotic blend of semi-realistic cubed CGI, humor in the form of Jack Black being Jack Black, sidelined female characters, and homoerotic entertainment.

In a world of endless creativity, only restrained by its cubed parameters, “Minecraft” has captured the hearts of children and adults alike since it came out in 2011. As the years have progressed and the game has been given updates that change it for the better, “Minecraft” has only managed to become more popular, landing it as one of the most loved and lasting video games to ever be created.

Due to that, when it was announced that Warner Bros. Pictures would be creating a movie based upon the long-beloved game, many people, myself included, were extremely apprehensive.

“Minecraft” is entirely unique to any other video game due to many different factors, the most glaring of which being that it takes place in a world where absolutely everything is made out of cubes — not a curve in sight. This, while strange, has given the game and the creatures within it a charm that has remained strong over the past 14 years. Because despite their squared edges, who can deny that the loyal companions of dogs and cats aren’t adorable? Even the endlessly annoying creepers have a sort of toxic-green, disturbing cuteness to them. Though, in my opinion, that cuteness instantly withers away the moment a creeper stalks forward and blows up my little cottage I spent hours building. Aw, man.

A plethora of animations have been created of the blocky world and its player character, Steve, along with original characters since its release, but “A Minecraft Movie” made the concerning decision to forgo animation and take its chances with a live-action representation. That would require a magnitude of CGI, along with extremely unrealistic physics that would likely have to be explained or changed to accommodate a “real world” quality. This posed an immediate threat to the foundation of Minecraft’s charm, and increased the chance of the movie receiving backlash from angry fans.

It was briefly in debate whether the movie would be more joking or serious. However, the question was rapidly thrown out the window with a shattering crash and shocked screams when the casting was announced. Jack Black as Steve, Matt Berry as a villager, along withJason Momoa and Jennifer Coolidge as original characters.

The general public consensus was simply: What?

Hard stop. Period.

I, and many others, originally thought that this casting was a joke — a rumor spread by the internet — but it remained for a little too long, leading to my stubborn disbelief over the apparent truth. However, I eventually found that I didn’t really care. For a game as fundamentally ridiculous as “Minecraft”, and with the decision to have the movie be live-action, making it a comedy was likely the only smart choice. Any weird instances or odd physics could easily be excused with a joke, brutally honest humor, or even the age old “because it’s magic.”

I had resigned myself to watching the movie at home whenever it released for free on streaming websites, but then a day out in the nice, sunny weather led to me watching “A Minecraft Movie” in theatres on its opening day.

Despite the continued chorus of high-pitched childish giggles and elated screeches over the movie’s “chicken jockey,” I actually really enjoyed the movie. It was light-hearted at the core and every scene held the same, odd whimsical wonder that the game itself has. It capitalized on the easily sparked joy that old “Minecraft” mechanics and items brought into the older viewers, along with an easily-missed momentary nod towards the game’s legendary ghost, Herobrine.

The CGI was done well, and while admittedly the characters did occasionally look like they were awkwardly standing in front of a green screen, it overall did feel as if they were trapped within the cubed world. However, the characters themselves were — interesting, to say the least. Steve is “Minecraft”’s undeniable protagonist (or antagonist, depending on if you play by antagonizing and burning down the innocent villages found within the world), but the movie’s lead was Henry, a young boy with a genius knack for engineering.

Henry, while rather adorable, didn’t feel particularly special in my eyes. He was every story’s basic, young unsuspecting hero that was only able to accomplish what he did with the help of his friends. His appeal likely was based primarily on the representation for the younger, child players, but I feel that his character and the skillset he brought to the world within “A Minecraft Movie” could have been further expanded on. To put it simply, he was missing everything that would make him remarkable.

A lot of focus was also put onto Garrett (a video-game fanatic titled, “The Garbage Man”) and Steve — and their semi-hostile, semi-homoerotic subtext. Heavy on the homoerotic. Their banter and bickering, the men going from being unable to stand each other to Garrett stroking Steve’s beard amidst an unusually long and emotional goodbye, was the source of a lot of amusement within the movie. Still, their characters’ personalities swung dangerously between annoyingly charming and just plain annoying.

But, Jack Black is Jack Black. Every movie he is in always somewhat feels as if he only gave the script a brief glance before shredding it to pieces and doing whatever came to mind the moment the cameras started rolling.

My biggest disappointment with the movie was the complete failure of potential in the movie’s main female characters, Natalie and Dawn. Dawn had a fun, aunt-like personality, while Natalie was more motherly and intellectual, immediately making them likeable. The beginning portion of the movie set them up to be important, the two women keeping track of the men and helping everything along, but their use quickly crashed and burned. As a female Minecraft player, I had hoped that Natalie and Dawn would keep up with the male leads, but that hope was swiftly lost.

Not only did they do very little, having no effect on the plot whatsoever, but they also disappeared for a large portion of the movie. Henry, Steve and Garrett went on an action-packed, perilous adventure to raid a mansion filled with powerful enemies, coming out successful. Natalie and Dawn simply got lost and built a cute house — the creation of which was off screen. If they had been cut from the movie entirely, nothing would have been different. I doubt that they even passed the Bechdel test, as every conversation that they held with each other was about the boys.

Despite the misuse of the female characters, I did enjoy “A Minecraft Movie” as a whole. While the plot had very little backing to it, and many things really had no proper explanation, it was funny and the visuals were fairly remarkable. As much as a world made entirely of cubes, creatures and all, could be, anyway. For any “Minecraft” fan, it is easily a decent homage to the beloved game.

“A Minecraft Movie”, in all its chaotic, nonsensical glory, is entertaining enough to be a good watch — more so if you approach it with the expectation of it being goofy and unserious. The movie does that itself for the most part, with many scenes making it clear that you are not meant to take it seriously and that it is done just for the fun of it.

Yes, the movie is satisfactory at most, but if you just tilt your head and squint, it could even be a great movie! Maybe.

Regardless, I would recommend that any “Minecraft” fan experience the chaos and art of “A Minecraft Movie” at least once.