A Minecraft Movie hit cinema screens earlier this month and have proven a box office hit but it is not without controversy. Social media has been filled with film goers reacting wildly during parts of the movie – particularly the appearance of ‘chicken jockey’. Reporter James Campbell decided to go and see what all the fuss was about...

I love going to the cinema, but I had no intention of going to watch A Minecraft Movie.

Frankly, I’m not the demographic. I’m far too old to have grown up playing it and I have no kids who played the hugely popular computer game.

It is one of the biggest-selling video games ever and involves a cubed world in which players build items and create their own worlds. Published by Mojang Studios, it has now been around for 14 years.

I went to the movie with my sister and her two kids – neither born when the game first came out. It isn’t the sort of film you want to head to alone as an adult male.

I know very little about Minecraft and I had read a lot of scathing reviews of the film, so expectations were low.

My main reason for going was to see just what kind of reaction there would be when ‘chicken jockey’ appeared.

There are videos online of people raucously cheering, clapping and throwing popcorn. It has led to warnings and appeals to behave.

The Palace cinema has not escaped such behaviour.

One Manx mum posted on TikTok criticising the behaviour of some cinemagoers over here.

She said: ‘I took my seven-year-old. He had to cover his ears because of the screaming and shouting. It ruined it for him.

‘The manager paused the movie and threatened to kick everyone out. It went quiet after that.’

Indeed, there is even a warning sign in the foyer of the Palace asking people to behave.

It says: ‘For the benefit of all customers we request that noise is kept to a minimum for everyone to enjoy Minecraft. Please refrain from excessive cheering, shouting and clapping.’

It appears some people may have even demanded their money back as the notice continues: ‘If you do not wish to watch the film, please request a swap or refund before the start. Refunds are not available after the film.’

I am not going to go into great detail about the film. Jack Black is, well, very Jack Black. If you love him, you will no doubt enjoy the film.

Jason Momoa swaps his usual brooding role for a comic stint which he seemed to have a lot of fun playing. The rest of the cast were fine, the special effects did their job, and the story was light on plot.

But it was fun and more entertaining than I feared it would be. It ran along at a good pace but any in-jokes for those familiar with the video game went over my head.

The ‘chicken jockey’ scene finally came around. To explain, the video game has chickens and zombies. A very rare occurrence is for a baby or toddler zombie to appear around chickens and then ride one, hence ‘chicken jockey’. Baffling to me and I guess anyone unfamiliar with the game.

A couple of people were really rather excited while there were a few cheers and a ripple of applause. But it was momentary and did not disrupt the film at all.

Frankly, it would not have bothered me if it had been a bit more raucous so long as it stopped at throwing popcorn around.

There was one scene near the end which really did make me laugh, otherwise it washed over me with a pleasant if underwhelming sense of mild entertainment.

But my nephews enjoyed it and that is what matters.

What also matters is that films like this get people back into cinemas which have struggled since Covid. If it takes Minecraft to do it then I applaud it.

I just hope I don’t get kicked out of the theatre doing so.