Hideo Kojima Officially Reviews DC's Clayface Movie

The latest installment in the DC Universe franchise gets reviewed by Hideo Kojima.

It has been a packed year for the DCU’s Chapter 1: “Gods and Monsters” slate, with several projects expanding James Gunn’s superhero universe across the big and small screens. Following the space adventures with Milly Alcock’s Girl of Steel, and the detective mystery with Hal Jordan and John Stewart on HBO, the franchise has taken the audience to Gotham City to focus on one of Batman’s greatest foes.

As Clayface continues its theatrical run, Kojima has finally taken to X to share his full review of the James Watkins-directed feature. The beloved Metal Gear video game franchise creative stated (translated from Japanese,) “I watched “Clayface.” I wasn’t aware of Clayface’s existence in DC, but I enjoyed it. I’ve always liked SF from the 50s-60s boom (stories depicting lonely men who transform into monstrous forms due to scientific experiments, accidents, or clinical trials).”

He compared it to “Matheson’s “The Shrinking Man (1956)” or the films “The Fly (1958),” “4D Man (1959),” while adding that “when it comes to facial injuries, it reminds me of “The Man Without a Face (1959)” or “The Face of Another (1966),” “I Live in Skin (2011),” and such. As body horror, it’ll probably be compared to “The Fly (1986)” or “The Substance (2024),” but this film is a story about a “method actor” who can become anyone through acting, who suffers a facial injury and eventually gains the special ability to become anyone.” Kojima finished his review with “whether you see it as a tale of falling into evil through revenge or as a tragedy changes the “face” of the movie. I also picked up a reprint pamphlet of “The Man Who Stole the Sun” while I was at it.”

This comes more than four months after the Japanese director gave his Supergirl review on X, where he commented, “I watched “Supergirl” in IMAX. Amid the confrontation between “justice” and “evil,” it wasn’t a “hero movie” where self-sacrifice saves the Earth. It was a “coming-of-age story” about saving oneself (Kara) who harbors trauma. Rather than “Mad Max: Fury Road (2015),” which is just survival instinct with no “good” or “evil,” its structure is closer to “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966),” where “good guys,” “bad guys,” and “despicable villains” gather in droves.”

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The Clayface movie, which stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, follows the beloved Batman villain’s origin story and how he becomes the iconic shapeshifter. The DCU horror release takes place prior to the events of Creature Commandos season 1, where he first showed up. As of writing, it has grossed $68.3 million worldwide, while holding a strong 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 206 submitted reviews, and sitting at a 94% audience score.

In ScreenRant’s Clayface review by Graeme Guttmann, who rated it 7/10, he praised how “the movie is so focused on Matt’s transformation into Clayface that it largely forgets the universe it takes place in, which feels more like a feature rather than a bug. Besides taking place in Gotham City, there are no overt nods to the larger universe for casual audiences.” While adding that “more eagle-eyed viewers may catch some Easter eggs here and there,” Guttmann stressed that “Clayface is first and foremost Matt Hagen’s story, which makes it an all the more interesting experiment in James Gunn’s burgeoning DC Universe. Who knows whether the DCU’s future Dark Knight will battle Clayface and, more importantly, the movie asks, who cares?”

Clayface