Hideo Kojima, the legendary game developer behind hit titles like Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, has penned his fair share of iconic quotes of the years. Yet there’s one phrase, inscribed on his X (formerly Twitter) bio that surmises much of his work and, presumably, his person: “70% of my body is made of movies.”
It’s no secret that much of Kojima’s work is inspired by his love of movies, which started when he was a child and continues to this day. As such, Kojima has not only worked with Hollywood directors and actors in his games, but spends a not-insignificant amount of time both watching, and unofficially reviewing, movies. And he is not one to withhold praise when he enjoys a movie–several movies, most recently Dune Part 2, have earned entire threads from Kojima that offer a brief yet thorough overview of everything he thought the film did well. When it comes to movies the game director is not so thrilled by, however, things play out a bit differently.
Keeping in line with the adage “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” Kojima seemingly expresses his discontent with a film by writing an extremely brief tweet about it. These tweets have become something of a recurring gag among the gaming community, as fans have come to infer that a short tweet means he found absolutely nothing to like about the film he’s reviewing. Though we can’t know for certain if Kojima really did dislike these films, we can still laugh at the implication. Here are all the movies Kojima has written a one-sentence review of.
Madame Web (2024)
Considering Madame Web is one of the most critically-panned entries on this list, it’s not all that surprising that Kojima didn’t have much to say about it–but it is still extremely funny. On March 2, 2024, Kojima tweeted “saw Madam Web at the theater” accompanied by some of the films promotional material.
Part of Sony’s poorly-received Spider-Man universe, Madam Web is perhaps the most disastrous of the bunch, resting at a 12% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer and a 57% audience score. For those keeping score, this is actually worse than Morbius, which earned a 15% on the Tomatometer and a 71% audience score.
65 (2023)
65 has all the makings of a good movie: sci-fi elements, Adam Driver fighting dinosaurs… What’s not to like, right? Seemingly a few things, as Kojima remained mostly quiet on his movie-going experience. On June 4, 2023, Kojima tweeted, “Watched ’65’ since Adam Driver and the dinosaur are starring.” A fantastic reason to watch, I’d agree, but seemingly not enough to garner a few more sentences from the game director.
Both critics and fans felt similarly, as 65 currently sits at a 36% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer and–funnily enough–a 65% audience score.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Not even nostalgia, some extremely impressive de-aging technology, and a neat-looking pen and journal could spare Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny from receiving a one-sentence review from Kojima. On July 2, 2023, Kojima tweeted “Went to see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” alongside some promotional images, a selfie, and the aforementioned pen and journal, which was presumably given to him as a promotional gift.
Critics and fans, however, tended to have more positive things to say about the film. The Dial of Destiny sits at a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer and has an 88% audience score. This audience score is a substantial step up from 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which rests at a 53% audience score and was largely considered disappointing by Indiana Jones’ fans.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
On May 10, 2024, Kojima attended an IMAX showing of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and–despite the film’s success and its connection to video games–didn’t have much to say about it. Kojima tweeted “watched ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ at IMAX 3D theater” alongside pictures of the film’s promotional materials, a pair of 3D glasses, and a selfie. It is important to note, however, that Kojima included something no other entry on this list has in his tweet: an emoji. While just for flourish or an indication that the gaming auteur particularly enjoyed the film’s numerous mushrooms, Kojima included a mushroom emoji at the end of his tweet.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie fared extremely well at the box office and with movie-goers, but was less loved by critics, who netted the film a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer. The film’s audience score, however, currently sits at a 95%.
Captain Marvel (2019)
How could we ever forget Kojima’s shortest review to date? Coming in at just three words is his Captain Marvel tweet which reads, “Saw Captain Marvel.” Ouch.
Upon release, Captain Marvel became the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s lowest-rated film, earning a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer and a 45% audience rating. Since then, however, the MCU has released two films that earned even lower scores from critics: 2021’s The Eternals and 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
With one of the highest audience scores on this list and a pretty impressive box office performance, it’s safe to say movie-goers largely enjoyed this 21st century take on Jumanji–but did Hideo Kojima? We can’t be too sure, as all it garnered from Kojima was a tweet reading, “Went to see Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle.”
The film currently sits at a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer with an 87% audience score. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillian all returned for its sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level, which are fared well, earning a 72% on the Tomatometer and maintaining the series’ 87% audience score.
Pacific Rim Uprising (2018)
It’s no secret that Kojima is a huge admirer of Guillermo del Toro–so much so that the Pacific Rim and Pan’s Labyrinth director even appeared in Death Stranding as Deadman. Back in 2013, Kojima piled on the praise for the series’ debut entry–Pacific Rim–tweeting, “I have never imagined that I would be fortunate enough to see a film like this in my life.” The film’s follow up, however, is a different story.
Under the direction of Steven S. DeKnight, Pacific Rim: Uprising was widely considered a flop by critics, movie-goers, and–we assume–Kojima. On April 22, 2018, the game director tweeted, “Went to see Pacific Rim: Uprising.” He also shared an image of a promotional action figure we was presumably given, but not even that inspired Kojima to write more on the subject.
Pacific Rim: Uprising earned a 42% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer and a 37% audience score.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
Though 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them fared well among critics and movie-goers alike, its follow up–The Crimes of Grindelwald–did not perform nearly as well. In fact, many reviews come at the film for being overzealous in scope while also lacking in excitement and story. Kojima, however, was very succinct in his review, in which he wrote “went to see Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” accompanied by pictures of promotional material and a few of the film’s “fantastic beasts.”
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald currently sits at a 36% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer with a 53% audience score.
Black Panther (2018)
Black Panther might be a three-time Academy Award-winning movie, but that didn’t stop Kojima from keeping tight-lipped about his own viewing experience. On March 3, 2018, Kojima tweeted “saw Black Panther at IMAX theater” along with some images of the film’s posters and promotional items.
Critics and fans, however, tended to like the action-packed Marvel movie. It currently sits at a 96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and has an audience score of 79%. The film took home Academy Awards for best costume design, best original score, and best production design.
The Mummy (2017)
Despite having some big names attached to it and being the start of the now-defunct Universal Dark Universe, The Mummy (2017) performed abysmally and received generally negative reviews. Kojima tweeted that he watched the film on July 29, 2017, writing, “Went to see The Mummy” alongside pictures of Tom Cruise and 3D glasses. Oof.
Though we can’t be sure Kojima wasn’t a fan of the film, it’s no secret that critics weren’t. The movie currently sits at a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and has an audience score of 35%.
The Marvels (2023)
Unfortunately, Kojima seemingly didn’t like the second installment of the MCU’s Captain Marvel series, either. On November 12, 2023, Kojima tweeted “saw The Marvels on IMAX 3D” alongside some promotional images and a selfie. You have to give the gaming auteur props for sitting through just about every super hero movie at this point–he’s been burned more than a few times.
However, The Marvels was considering substantially better than Captain Marvel by fans, earning a 82% audience scores. Critics were less enthused by the film, which rests at a 62% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
Kojima’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix review might just be the most brutal of the bunch, as it’s the only one in which he didn’t state the name of the movie. On July 15, 2019, Kojima tweeted “Finally got to see” alongside promotional images for the Sophie Turner-led film, prompting some of his followers to tweet out “thoughts and prayers” and other humous responses.
The vast majority of critics presumably agreed with Kojima, as the film currently sits at a 22% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer. Fans were a bit gentler on the movie, netting it a 64% audience score.
About Author
