If the phrases “chicken jockey,” “flint and steel” or “water bucket … RELEASE” seem foreign to you, then you have clearly been living under a rock for the past few days or even weeks. “A Minecraft Movie,” the originator of these phrases, has caused a nationwide frenzy, with moviegoers dressing up as entities from the game, screaming in theaters, creating memes and edits and overall amassing more hype and marketing than any other movie so far this year. The hype around “A Minecraft Movie” is unparalleled and has set a precedent for future films. 

At its core, “A Minecraft Movie” doesn’t achieve anything revolutionary. It is just another film in the category of movies based on popular video games. Take, for example, animated films like “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (2023), “The Angry Birds Movie” (2016) or live-action movies like “Five Nights at Freddy’s” (2023), “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001) and “Uncharted” (2022), to name a few. 

However, what makes “A Minecraft Movie” a standout is the popularity of the film’s release and subsequently the reviews the film has been receiving amongst a wide demographic, despite its target audience being from seven to 12-year-olds. Its successful use of marketing is evident in the film’s box office profit, with the film grossing about $157 million domestically, a significant increase from its estimated box office total of $60 million.

A success of this kind does not come without some strategy and clever marketing. If you can think back to a time before “chicken jockey” invaded your vocabulary, you may be able to remember the mixed emotions regarding the announcement of the film’s production, with many being concerned about the movie being able to capture the integrity of the game. However, that doesn’t seem to be a major topic of discussion now. Much of the hype surrounding “A Minecraft Movie” came from the internet latching onto scenes and creating memes around them — enter the “flint and steel” and “crushing loaf” lingo. One TikTok creator, @drewplu, sang the phrases “chicken jockey,” “flint and steel” and “I am Steve” over the melody of “Pure Imagination” by Gene Wilder from the movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” which resulted in the TikTok sound being used over 15,500 times. 

With these memes blowing up on TikTok, Instagram and X, it was fated that the memeage of the film would carry over into the viewing of the movie in the actual cinema. When the movie was finally released on April 4, there was an outpouring of videos of fans and moviegoers showing the reactions within theaters erupting in hysterics at the sight of now-iconic lines. One TikTok showed a movie theater going insane after the character Steve, played by Jack Black, says one of the iconic lines; popcorn is thrown everywhere, crowds of people begin screaming and someone can even be seen holding a real chicken into the air. 

Although a similar phenomenon occurred with the release of the movie “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” with moviegoers dressing in full formal attire as ‘gentle-minions,’ “A Minecraft Movie” has been able to take it up a notch. 

And yet, despite the popularity of “A Minecraft Movie,” I would be remiss to neglect some of the shortcomings of the film. As some viewers were quick to point out, the movie fails the Bechdel Test, and badly. If you’re not aware, the Bechdel Test is a standard way to determine if a movie includes women in the film in the most basic of ways. The three rules are as follows: there are at least two women in the film, they have at least one conversation together and that conversation is about anything other than a man. “A Minecraft Movie” does have two female characters; however, halfway through, they basically disappear entirely. Others have taken to critiquing the movie as a whole, saying it was horrible or failed to do the video game and its original fans justice. 

While those points may be true, I think it’s also important to look at the bigger picture of what the film achieved. The casting, which at first seemed odd, ultimately made the film what it is. Without Black leading the charge on the internet memes from the film, there’s a good chance the movie would not have achieved the numbers it did at the box office. Yes, the memes have led to disruptive behavior in the cinema, but they have also brought people together. While unwelcome by some, this chaotic behavior has made going to the movies fun again; streaming has completely changed the game on film premieres and physically going to see a new movie when it is released, but this new fad of audience and fan hype has made watching movies an experience again. The movie also ended a rough streak in the film industry with 2025 films like “Snow White” and “Captain America: Brave New World” flopping at the cinema. 

Above all, “A Minecraft Movie” has made a lot of us feel like kids again, hanging out with friends, talking about old Minecraft days and possibly jumping back on the game out of a sense of nostalgia, and that joy is truly unbeatable. 

Rachel Servidio, FCRH ’26, is a communications and culture major from Poughkeepsie, New York.