To 3D/4DX Or Not To 3D/4DX: Buy The Right A Minecraft Movie Ticket

Apparently the children yearn for the mines, which is why A Minecraft Movie’s arrival on the 2025 movie schedule couldn’t have come a moment too soon. It feels like we’ve been waiting forever to see Mojang Studio’s video game legacy jump onto the big screen, but it’s now finally here, in living color. And as you’d guessed, there’s a couple questions we need to ask - starting with To 3D or Not To 3D?

What’s more, we’re going to be discussing the 4DX quality of this magical mystery tour as well. So if you’re looking for A Minecraft Movie’s critical reactions, you’re going to want to go somewhere else. But if you’re ready to see if this movie has crafted a premium experience worth the DLC price to your cinematic experience, then step right this way!

Overall Fit Score - 3.5/5

Thinking of this picture as an overall concept, A Minecraft Movie feels like it’d be built for 3D and 4DX. Surely an open world crafting simulator that’s seen people build their own rollercoasters would be amenable to the added bells and whistles of these twin formats.

If anything hyped this special package, it has to be A Minecraft Movie's trailer, which did a really good job of setting expectations. So it pleases me to say that the execution mostly sticks the landing. Director Jared Hess’ new movie can be called a lot of things, and two of them happen to be “colorful” and “active.”

Overall Planning & Effort - 3.5/5

The good folks at visual effects house DNEG stereo converted every blocky facet of this Minecraft adaptation’s mythical world. I don’t know if that’s either easier or harder than making sure Jason Momoa’s luscious locks of faded ‘80s glory pop in format, but the 3D half of this equation is the better deal.

Sadly, on the 4DX side of things, the atmospherics that use various sensory stimuli aren’t all that beefy. At the same time, if you really want a physically-moving ride out of A Minecraft Movie, you won’t be disappointed - and you surely won’t lose your lunch between these two titans of premium format exhibition.

3D Before The Window - 3/5

When looking “Before The Window” on this portal-hopping journey, you’d expect certain things to feel like they’re really coming at you. Flaming arrows, exploding blocks of TNT and Jack Black skadooshing through the air are just a few examples of what one would expect A Minecraft Movie to project off of the screen.

The results are merely ok in this department, as even Jack Black and Jason Momoa’s “full man sandwich” hurtling towards the screen doesn’t pop out all that much. Though I will say, one minor highlight to speak of is the wolf Dennis, whose leaps through the air are quite adorable in this format. I wish he could have nudged some of those flaming arrows towards the audience - but I’m not going to besmirch that good blocky boy’s name. It’s not his fault.

3D Beyond The Window - 5/5

Paired with the previous criteria, the “Beyond The Window” effect is the other half of what drives any 3D enhanced experience. Providing the opposite feeling, where picture depth is so full you could fall in, Minecraft fans won’t have a problem digging in with this segment.

Characters and their environments are clearly defined, which leads to some fun contrasts between flesh and blood characters and their other-worldly counterparts. It’s also really neat to see the jagged and pixelated aspects of the world’s aesthetic depicted in such a manner, which is sure to have fans ignoring the Minecraft trailer haters even more.

3D Brightness Score - 3.5/5

Hello Brightness, my old foe. As seen in plenty of other upbeat and colorful premium hybrid experiences I’ve taken in, like Transformers One’s 3D/4DX romp, the dimness of this particular auditorium’s projector dims the shine a little too much for my liking.

Fortunately we’re not talking about a Wicked 3D/4DX level of dimming, as the night scenes in A Minecraft Movie's visually creative world are definitely watchable. That's thanks to one moment in particular I was afraid of being washed out actually showing up clear as a bell.

The scene where Jennifer Coolidge hits a Villager in our world with a very real car is a night scene in the real world. That scene led to an impressive Minecraft mid-credits cameo we can truly consider love at first sight, as we the audience could actually see it unfolding.

Glasses Off Score - 5/5

Should you be a regular viewer of 3D pictures, you’ll be tempted from time to time to slip your glasses off. Which is because you’re either comparing the brightness of the picture with or without your glasses, or you want to see that cool blurring effect. Well, the blurrier that image is, the more the third dimensional effect is supposed to have been manipulated - and A Minecraft Movie has a lot of blur.

The standard playing field applies here, of course. Tons of blurring in the background, your usual 2D anchor points hanging out in the middle of the picture, and the blur coming together in harmony once you put your glasses back on. This is a good point to note that if anyone knows of any 3D conversion classes, I’d be glad to take those courses, as I’d love to learn what to look for in terms of blur quality and the Before/Beyond the Window results that are achieved.

4DX Water Effects: 2/5

Now it’s time to splash down into the 4DX rundown for A Minecraft Movie, which leads to some lukewarm results. I don’t expect effects such as seat-mounted water cannons or ceiling mounted sprinklers to constantly be going off - as that’d lead to a rather soggy experience. However, I am looking for some sort of uniformity.

Which means that if I’m being shown scenes where humans are splashing in puddles, or soaring close to water, I want to feel more than just a tiny sprinkle. This Minecraft adventure does not provide that - but you do get a touch of water when Dennis licks a human. So this isn’t a total failure of an experience.

4DX Scent Effects: 1/5

For a format that likes to boast aromatic enhancements like 4DX, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of variety involved. While I presume mileage may vary on this field, much like 3D brightness and other atmospheric effects, I’m sad that A Minecraft Movie is yet another opportunity for me to call out that there seem to be only three scents tops that are used on the whole for presentations such as this: “bug spray,” “fire” and “earthy woods.”

We only get some brief moments of “earthy woods” in this picture, but I wouldn’t have minded some “fire” during that “Lava Chicken” song Steve (Jack Black) jumps into at the Village chicken stand.

4DX Light/Air/Smoke Effects: 3/5

The “Light, Air, and Smoke” effects department get a decent workout in A Minecraft Movie’s realm known as “The Nether.” Smoke billows in the front of the auditorium during some of the lava-centric visuals in the kingdom of the villainous Malgosha (Rachel House), and it actually happens a handful of times.

That’s probably the factor that carries this segment, however, as the air and light effects don’t go nearly as hard. When Steve, Garrett (Jason Momoa) and Henry (Sebastian Hansen) engage in a chase sequence that ends with them jumping off a bridge, they plummet through the air to a near splash down.

Captain America: Brave New World’s 3D/4DX variant used that sort of opportunity to even throw in a bit of water. Here, it’s bone dry with a light breeze. So there's a decent showing here, but not anything to write to one of your three Minecraft homes about.

4DX Motion Effects: 5/5

Much like Jemaine Clement showing up with a Southern accent in full cowboy mode, this is the true star of the show. Similar to the rough and ready adventure seen in Twisters’ 4DX thrill ride, the movement in this family friendly movie may be too intense for some younger viewers.

Riding with a pack of A Minecraft Movie’s wolves is only the start of the fun, as gigantic Golems, a mine cart adventure and even getting hit by Jennifer Coolidge’s car can be felt to maximum effect with these seats. Not to mention, when an enemy gets speared, hit or knocked around, so do you.

If you're concerned for the younger/more sensitive party members coming along for the ride, check out the 4DX safety guidelines for more details. Also, has anyone talked to Kevin Costner about releasing the Horizon movies in this format?

Overall Audience Health - 5/5

This all might sound like a lot when it comes to a night out at the movies, and that’s reasonable. After all, both the 3D and 4DX formats are part of what makes moviegoing a little extra special - as you can get close to the danger without having a problem. That said, you should have no problem enjoying A Minecraft Movie’s visual and motion-based thrills - unless you’re hypersensitive to such aspects.

Final Verdict: 39.5/55

A Minecraft Movie is a pretty solid, middle of the road experience in the 4DX/3D realms. One might even be able to use this as a moderately paced experience to introduce someone to the motion/atmosphere enhanced format in particular. 3D actually seems to win out on which half is better, so if you want to try that experience on its own, that wouldn’t be a bad recommendation.

Which brings us back to the real world, and to the end of another To 3D/4DX rundown! We’re still experimenting with this feature in a form similar to my previous Mickey 17 4DX highlights; which means you'll have to look a little deeper to see the results. Also, if you want to read about our own Dirk Libbey's first 4DX experience with Novocaine, you can do that as well!

As for the next 4DX movie on the docket, it looks like the vampire action thriller Sinners is on the calendar. And if those rumbling chairs somehow make it feel like I’m Michael B. Jordan firing a Tommy gun on a Depression Era farm, you can bet I’ll be reporting back to tell you how it felt.