You might enjoy the new Minecraft movie so long as you’re aware of one thing

Here's our verdict on the sure-to-be blockbuster.

Interestingly titled A Minecraft Movie - it seems its producers are already devoted to making more, quite different Minecraft stories going forward - its story revolves around a ragtag group transported to a utopia called Overworld, where people are free to build anything they want.

Part of the group is Steve (Jack Black, School of Rock), a man living a life of corporate drudgery, Garrett 'The Garbage Man' Garrison (Jason Momoa, Aquaman), a down-on-his-luck video game store owner, Natalie and Henry (Emma Myers and Sebastian Hansen), two young siblings mourning the recent death of their mother, and Dawn (Danielle Brooks, Peacemaker), their real-estate agent.

It turns out, however, that the Overworld is at war with the Nether, another place ruled by Malgosha (voiced by Rachel House, Hunt for the Wilderpeople), a tyrant who abhors all things creative.

Trapped in the utopia, the humans embark on a quest to get what they need to return to Earth - but must dodge Malgosha's henchmen in the process.

A Minecraft Movie is a case of a film trying to have its cake and eat it too. There is a part of it that seems to want to be a coming-of-age fantasy about the importance of creativity, and how it can even help people overcome their grief. This would make sense, given that a key component to the best-selling game of all time is literally building.

That said, perhaps because it's directed by comedy veteran Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) and/or because there are six other people credited with working on the screenplay, A Minecraft Movie only really pays lip service to these ideas and at times, almost seems to be parodying them.

No one, and I really mean no one, in the fantasy acts like a real person, with the rampant silly absurdity stymying any possible emotional moments.

Add to this Black and Momoa's over-the-top clownish performances, A Minecraft Movie feels like Barbie if Margot Robbie never left Barbieworld and if Greta Gerwig never worked out how to turn the preexisting IP into something that would resonate with cinemagoers who had never engaged with it up until that point.

All of this is to say that these bugs will be huge problems if you've never played Minecraft before - the film also throws viewers immediately into the deep end in terms of its lore, with Steve and co. then whisked from one stakeless action scene to another.

But young children and the millions of people who've purchased the game to date will certainly find much more to enjoy.

And to be fair, the way Overworld looks in the film is visually pleasing, and with Hess at the helm, a handful of jokes really do land.

A subplot involving the school principal, played by Jennifer Coolidge, is actually hysterical - perhaps due to the actress' inherent funny bones (stick around for the credits for a fun payoff to that plot as well).

That said, the true moment I realised A Minecraft Movie was going to be a hit with its demographic was during the opening moments of the family-friendly press screening.

As the logo card for Minecraft developers Mojang Studios appeared on screen, it was greeted with cheers by the younger attendees, who then proceeded to chuckle loudly for the remaining 100 minutes.

So, A Minecraft Movie is far from the disaster some predicted. However, audiences should be aware that this is a case where the more love of the source material you bring to the film, the more you will get out of the adaptation.

A Minecraft Movie is in cinemas now.