One of the last good things about the dying social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is Hideo Kojima’s movie updates. The creator of Metal Gear and Death Stranding is an avid movie buff, a passion he’s injected into his highly cinematic, cutscene-filled games but which still manifests itself as a Dude Who Buys Tons of 4K Blu-rays. Despite working tirelessly on Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (real title), ODand other projects, Kojima finds time to watch two or three movies a week, often the latest American blockbusters finally arriving in Japan. And he’s almost always good for a tweeted response.
Kojima Movie Reactions range from lengthy reflections on the power of cinema to short posts about movies that were probably crap. None of the reactions clarified Kojima’s personal tastes and extreme decency when it comes to commenting on the art of other artists other than his post after seeing Mrs Web earlier this year. Kojima can often find the good in even the worst Hollywood junk, but for the half-baked, Spider-Man-esque blockbuster, the video game auteur simply said, “I saw ‘Madame Web’ in the theater.”
Now that the summer movie season is behind us, it feels like the right time to not only share Kojima’s extremely Kojima-esque film criticism with those who would be wise to ignore X, but also to find the nuance in his off-color remarks. What did Kojima thinks about The Scapegoat? Below I present you with an unofficial ranking of the summer blockbusters of 2024 that the game maker saw (sorry, Despicable Me 4), calibrated based on years of reactions to Kojima films. If Mrs Web is the bottom, then…
9. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
5. A Quiet Place: Day One
4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
3. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
(Editorial note: Based on Kojima’s updates, at one point he saw Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (a second time in theaters, but didn’t document the experience with a patented Kojima Tweet
. If that post eventually shows up or is significantly delayed, we’ll update this ranking.)