I’m game. Are you?

“A Minecraft Movie” is the most fun at the movies of the year 2025 so far.

The plot is absolutely bonkers. The characters are absurd. The dialogue is often corny.

To wit, in a movie scene of Marlene (Jennifer Coolidge) and a Villager at a restaurant, the wait person asks, “Are you finished?” Marlene responds of her date, “No, I think he’s Swedish.”

The quip is a nod to the origin of the video game, “Minecraft,” by Mojang (pronounced “Moe-yang”) Studios, the Stockholm, Sweden, video game developer of “Minecraft,” originally released in 2009, and said to be the all-time, best-selling video game. Microsoft purchased Mojang Studios in 2014 for $2.5 billion.

I have never played “Minecraft” nor few video games. I never got past “Pac-Man,” the 1980 maze chase game popular in video arcades and restaurants.

You don’t need to be a “Minecraft” gamer or even a video gamer to enjoy “A Minecraft Movie,” which, ahem, mines the absurdity and humor of the video game world.

To its credit, the movie doesn’t take the “Minecraft” game nor its characters seriously. Nor do the actors who play the characters take their roles seriously. The send-up of game boy and game girl culture may alienate purists. However, it provides unfiltered fun for the movie-goer.

The plot starts out in the real world, sort of, where hapless former 1980s’ video game champion Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), who drives a beat-up Pontiac Firebird and wears a flamboyant pink fringed jacket, runs a used video game store in Chuglass, Idaho.

Garrison becomes surrogate uncle to Henry (Sebastian Hansen), a teen scientist who arrives in Chuglass with his guardian, his older sister Natalie (Emma Myers), behind the wheel of a fake wood-paneled Chrysler station wagon.

The siblings move into a house they’re shown by Dawn (Danielle Brooks), a real estate agent who runs a mobile petting zoo.

The video game store scenes with Jason Momoa as Garrison amidst physical video games and gear are hilarious as are scenes with Danielle Brooks as Dawn with an alpaca looking out from the back seat or her petting-zoo car.

Topping these is a scene with assistant principal Marlene (Jennifer Coolidge) when Henry gets in trouble after his rocket-propelled robot goes off-course and knocks the Mr. Chips mascot from the top of the Chuglass, Idaho, potato chip factory.

Meanwhile, Steve (Jack Black), in a voiceover that begins the movie, tells us that his discovery of the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal has taken him through a portal to the Overworld, where everything, every person and every creature is in the form of a cube, including Steve’s dog Dennis.

This paradise is threatened by the Nether, an underworld ruled by Malgosha, a piglin.

Garrison purchases the contents of Steve’s former house, including the Orb of Dominance and the Earth Crystal, at a storage-unit auction.

Henry combines the Orb and the Crystal, and he, Garrison, Natalie and Dawn travel through a portal to the Overworld. They meet up with Steve. They team up and the battle is on for control of the Overworld.

“A Minecraft Movie” is directed by Jared Hess (Oscar nominee, shared with his wife, Jerusha Hess, animated short film, “Ninety-Five Senses,” 2024; director, “Napoleon Dynamite,” 2004; director, “Nacho Libre,” 2006).

The screenplay is by Chris Bowman (screenwriter, “Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life,” 2016), Hubbel Palmer (“Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life”), Neil Widener (director, screenwriter, “Subdivision, Colorado,” 2004), Gavin James (director, screenwriter, “Footsteps,” 2010) and Chris Galletta (screenwriter, “The Kings of Summer,” 2013) from a story by Allison Schroeder (Oscar nominee, adapted screenplay, “Hidden Figures,” 2017), Bowman and Palmer.

The CGI in “A Minecraft Movie” is mind-boggling. Imagine a world where everything is a cube. The live-action actors stand out even more against this backdrop.

Jason Momoa (“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” 2023) is epic as Garrett. Momoa is one of the screen’s most gifted comedic goofballs.

Not to be outdone in the goofus department is Jack Black (voice, Po, “Kung Fu Panda” movies; “School of Rock,” 2003), who always seems to be winging it to great effect. Jack Black, alone and with Jason Momoa, gets to sing a few non-song songs with shades of Tenacious D.

“A Minecraft Movie” provides a breakout role for Sebastian Hansen (“Just Mercy,” 2019), who is excellent, balancing naturally the humor and seriousness of his role as Henry, a geeky teen.

Emma Myers (TV’s “Wednesday,” 2022-2025) is brilliant as Natalie, Henry’s older sister.

Danielle Brooks (TV’s “Orange is the New Black,” 2013-2019) is very funny as Dawn.

Jennifer Coolidge (Primetime Emmy recipient, supporting actress, “The White Lotus,” 2022, 2023) steals every scene she’s in.

The film’s composer Mark Mothersbaugh (composer, “The Royal Tenenbaums,” 2001; “Rushmore,” 1998; rock band Devo) adds lots of energy to the action.

“A Minecraft Movie” can be enjoyed by pre-teens, teens and adults. It’s game on with “A Minecraft Movie” for a fun time at the movies.

“A Minecraft Movie,” MPAA rated PG (Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children) for violence and action, language, suggestive and rude humor and some scary images; Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy; Run time: 1 hour, 41 minutes. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous: At the very end of “A Minecraft Movie,” Steve (Jack Black) shows up at the front door of his old house to see if a chest in the attic is still there. Alex, a character in “Minecraft,” answers the door. Filming locations included Auckland, New Zealand, and Calgary, Alberta and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

At The Movies: “A Minecraft Movie” was seen in the Dolby Cinema at AMC Center Valley 16. The movie is a seat-shaker.

Domestic Weekend Box Office, April 11-13: “A Minecraft Movie” continued to dig up box-office gold, No. 1 two weeks straight, defeating five opening films with a still crafty $80.6 million in 4,289 theaters, $280.9 million, two weeks.

“A Minecraft Movie” is the second-highest video game-to-movie adaptation of all time, passing “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” ($490.6 million) and chasing the No. 1 adaptation, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.3 billion).

2. “The King of Kings,” $19 million in 3,200 theaters, opening. Angel Studios’ “The King of Kings” is the biggest Biblical story animated film opening ever, topping “Prince of Egypt” ($14.5 million).

3. “The Amateur,” $15 million in 3,400 theaters, opening. 4. “Warfare,” $8.3 million in 2,670 theaters, opening. 5. “Drop,” $7.5 million in 3,085 theaters. 6. “The Chosen: Last Supper Part 3,” $5.8 million in 2,296 theaters, opening. 7. “A Working Man” dropped five places, $3 million in 2,672 theaters, $33.5 million, three weeks. 8. “Snow White” dropped four places, $2.8 million in 2,540 theaters, $81.9 million, four weeks. 9. “The Woman in the Yard” dropped four places, $2.1 million in 2,134 theaters, $20.3 million, three weeks. 10. “The Chosen: Last Supper Part 2” dropped seven places, $931,684 in 672 theaters, $10.9 million, two weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of April 13 is subject to change.

Unreel, April 18:

“Sinners,” R: Ryan Coogler directs Michael B. Jordan and Tenaj L. Jackson in the Horror Thriller. Twin brothers return to their hometown where evil awaits them.

“Sneaks,” PG: Rob Edwards and Christopher Jenkins direct the voice talents of Anthony Mackie, Keith David, Laurence Fishburne, Martin Lawrence and Macy Gray and the animation in the Adventure Comedy. A designer sneaker must rescue his sister.

“Neil Young: Coastal,” No MPAA rating. Daryl Hannah directs the documentary about a Neil Young solo tour in California.

Movie opening information from Internet Movie Database as of April 13 is subject to change.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes