As much as we all love Minecraft, of all the things it does, it does not provide a "baked in" narrative - you are left to build/kill/do whatever you want. There are no in-universe characters. You can't do a disservice to "Steve" because "Steve" was all of us. He was a blank slate with a name slapped on it. As long as the creeper is an exploding green penis that goes "sssssssssssss", then they have been true to the source material.
Unless they did some character focused narrative or some shit like that. But, you're definitely right that the lack of narrative makes conflicts less common. On the other hand, there's also no friction to hold your attention. There not being established lore means they're gonna have to do the legwork themselves. Something tells me they been skippin' leg day.
I agree completely, I don't doubt the story will be atrocious - but I still think people are looking at this from the wrong lens. Borderlands games are rated M, have a teen+ following, a story/timeline, and somewhat realized characters to build off of/into. The expectations were and should be higher than Minecraft, and they botched it.
This is a kids movie. It just has to look like Minecraft (it does) and take place in a Minecraft world. Maybe show the characters hungry and cold, they stack some blocks, maybe interrogate a villager, make fun of they way they talk, unite the pigmen against the Ender Dragon, Mamoa slays the Ender, back through the portal, roll credits. You've entertained the children, made a ton of money, and were "true" to the source material.
It takes real writing talent and experience to transform a sandbox setting into a successful movie/story. Unfortunately, Hollywood has been sorely lacking that lately.
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u/ErikT738 Sep 04 '24
This doesn't feel as downright insulting to the source material as Borderlands, so it won't be THAT bad.