‘A Minecraft Movie’ Misses the Whole Point

“Minecraft” isn’t like most video game of the modern era.

The pace is leisurely and the graphics are purposefully crude. Picture a series of blocks meant to portray sheep, pigs and our plucky avatar, Steve. Those old enough to remember the Atari 2600 gaming system may feel a pang of nostalgia with every round.

That retro charm is everywhere in “A Minecraft Movie,” a gaudy attempt to translate the blockbuster game to the big screen.

What’s simple and streamlined at home is complicated to the Nth degree on screen. Stars Jack Black and Jason Momoa guide newbies and rabid fans alike through the digital haze. Their distinct personas make the goofier bits go down easily.

They have their hands full on that front. “A Minecraft Movie” is silly on steroids, a key reason it’s hard to get mad at its fractured storytelling.

The world building required for this “Movie” is sizable. Younger viewers may be confused, but so will their parents. Our hero Steve (Black) rushes through the hurried exposition, eager to get to the scenery chewing ASAP.

Turns out poor Steve couldn’t fully tap his imagination as a younger man, leaving him on the outside looking in. One day, he enters a mine shaft that had fascinated him for years.

He discovers a portal to an alternate universe called the Overworld where he can create to his heart’s content, brick after brick. Naturally, he doesn’t want to leave.

His tranquility is tested when he accidentally enters a second realm known as The Nether. Creepy, pig-like beasts roam this bleak landscape, led by the villainous Malgosha (Rachel House).

She vows to conquer Overworld in generically evil fashion.

Meanwhile, four Earth-bound strangers end up in Overworld, including the cartoonish Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (A pink-clad Momoa, having a blast). He’s joined by shy Henry (Sebastian Hansen), his big sister Natalie (Emma Myers) and real estate agent Dawn (Danielle Brooks).

Poor Brooks is given little to do save provide reaction shots and Mary Sue-like heroism. Myers is ignored for long stretches at a time.

The quartet join forces with Steve to save Overworld and themselves.

The story echoes the chaos found in too many kiddie movies today, the opposite of what made the “Minecraft” game matter. It’s still harmless, all of it, and that’s to director Jared Hess’ credit.

The “Napoleon Dynamite” helmer refuses to take anything seriously.

Phew.

Some comic bits score and Black’s enthusiasm is beyond infectious. He goes to 11 in every scene. Maybe even 12. He even gets to break out his Tenacious D pipes a time or three.

Momoa, playing against his hunky appearance, is similarly sweet as a delusional video game champion who peaked in the ’80s.

One of the film’s charming elements? The time period is hard to suss out. That anachronistic sense is oddly appealing in our digital age.

The visuals are delightfully droll. Is this a CGI wonderland, or are some of the Minecraft creatures people in dopey costumes? Either way, it works.

And then there’s Jennifer Coolidge as a lonely teacher flirting with an Overworld refugee who escaped his realm. The “White Lotus” alum can conjure smiles from thin air, which is exactly what happens here.

“A Minecraft Movie” duplicates some of the source material’s core functions, from those blocky swords to creating structures out of thin air. Newbies may be confused, but it’s incorporated reasonably well into the story.

That’s assuming you can follow what’s happening from beat to beat. Just try keeping focus on the mission in play.

“Minecraft” remains a deeply inventive game that lets players explore their budding imaginations at their own pace. The story gives lip service to that reality, but it’s far more interested in “Napoleon”-style shtick.

Gosh!

HiT or Miss: Children will get the most pleasure out of “A Minecraft Movie,” a collision course of blocky odes to the enduring video game smash.

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