"A force of insidious evil" – reviews for The Emoji Movie are about as brutal as you’d expect

A movie about Emojis. A movie about Emojis. The Emoji Movie was hardly going to be 2001: A Space Odyssey but the ultimate movie to reflect the world we live in has turned out to be soul-crushingly bad. Who’d have guessed it? The reviews say it better than any emoji ever could.

“Nakedly idiotic” – The New York Times (!) 

“The whole thing remains nakedly idiotic. To add to the pain and despair of the experience, The Emoji Movie is preceded by a short, ‘Puppy,’ featuring the characters from the Hotel Transylvania animated movies. It is also idiotic.”

"Misguided and nonsensical" - IGN (4.5/10)

“But as The Emoji Movie goes on, the film reveals itself to be just as misguided and nonsensical an endeavor as many assumed it would be when it was originally announced.”

“Dumb, flat, goofy, and obvious” – Variety 

“The emojis in The Emoji Movie said more before they opened their mouths.”

“A big thumbs down” – The Guardian (1/5) 

“The Emoji Movie is a force of insidious evil, a film that feels as if it was dashed off by an uninspired advertising executive.”

And a roundup of the very best put-downs from other reviews 

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Of course, that led to people wishing death on emojis

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I mean, what were we expecting?

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Even Metacritic has no remorse

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Are we out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong

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Images: Sony

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.