The world of Pop Culture is an interesting part of the internet where people can be especially harsh. They’ll point out every flaw they see in a movie, show, song, or album. The recently released Minecraft movie is no exception. If it wasn’t the casting, it was the plot, if it wasn’t the plot, it was the songs, if it wasn’t the songs, it was the cringe aspect. Whatever it was, it ended up being quite controversial and a topic of discussion. A topic I definitely have feelings about.

“I am Steve” is probably the most iconic line of the movie, but should Jack Black have been the one to say it? That casting decision really threw me for a loop. For most fans of the game, he has to be close to everyone’s last choice for Steve. I mean, the man’s not even of color. The one detail Steve needed (for the most part) was the one they neglected. Steve is quite literally just a tan block man with a teal shirt and blue pants with brown hair and a brown beard. I was originally thinking Aaron Pierre due to his recent popularity following his role as Mufasa, but the man is too attractive for a role like Steve. They had previously cast Matt Berry, and although it’s not great, it’s better than Jack. Besides Steve, having Emma Myers play a motherly role wasn’t a great choice. I love her as an actress, she was perfect in the show Wednesday, but she just doesn’t have the look for it. It felt like she was supposed to be going to school alongside her brother in the movie. Jason Momoa was also just awful. That might just be me though.

Besides being miscast, the movie was also just a bit of a mess. The actual plot wasn’t the greatest. I mean, fighting Piglins being almost the entire plot was a choice. Personally, I would’ve made it about Steve and friends having to survive and ‘speed run’ it all. According to the website SullyGnome, in 2020 – 2022, the eighth most Twitch streamed game was Minecraft. Meaning, I was tuned in at the ripe age of 12. It was all I watched. With that being said, I’d mostly watch speed runners. Just a bunch of guys gathering materials, food, making a home, raiding villages, doing so much stuff in preparation for the fight with the game’s final boss, the Ender Dragon. How cool would it have been to see a group of awkward teenagers, including Steve and Alex, surviving in the Minecraft world to then fight the dragon to make their way back to the real world. It would have been way more on brand than whatever they have going on in the movie.

I’m not here to hate, of course. I just think the people who made the movie also made some interesting choices. Like their popcorn buckets. Or really, the chicken jockey popcorn bucket. Chicken jockey genuinely gave the movie so much promo. It became a huge meme. People laughing at the zombies look, people saying it looks like Frankenstein on a chicken, people laughing at the absurdity of the scene in general. It caused major chaos on social media. Hundreds of Tweets, TikToks and Instagram posts about the scene. A single scene, that is not even a minute long, managed to single-handedly get hundreds of people to watch it just for that bit. I mean, within the first week, the movie grossed $162.7 million domestically. $313 million globally. Even the bucket is currently being sold on eBay for roughly 50-300 dollars. Insane.

But even the Chicken Jockey was controversial thanks to the insanity that was brought with it. Movie theaters were being vandalized everywhere. People were screaming, clapping, throwing entire tins of popcorn, sometimes even the buckets, they were throwing drinks and food. Just throwing everything they could. People were getting hit with cups and other items, people were getting into arguments and some even got into physical fights. There was a time someone took a real, live, chicken to a showing that they subsequently left out on the street. Theater employees had to go into theaters right before the scene to monitor everyone, despite the warning at the start of the movie. They then had to endure the clean up just because people couldn’t do the bare minimum of respecting the theater, employees and people around them. That said, the executives behind the movie were probably cheering at their million-dollar headquarters, making more money with every New TikTok made. Good on them honestly. That movie has now become the highest-grossing video game adaptation ever. So really, that scene most likely saved them from having the movie flop.

Whether or not you went to see the movie due to your love for the game, the online buzz for it, your little brother begged you to, to make fun of it or you just have a deep, burning, passionate love for Jack Black, I’m almost entirely sure the movie left quite an impression on you. Regardless of whether it is loved or hated, this movie is going to be talked about for years on end. Maybe you’ll even be living in a retirement home, rocking back and forth on some porch, reminiscing about the times with your old high school pals. And really, I believe everyone should be thankful that they were able to experience the release of the first ever Minecraft movie, and everything that came with it, firsthand.