Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding 2 director Hideo Kojima has finally gone to space thanks to a new short film from Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn, though you'd have to wonder if the price of admission was worth it. Reactions to the video, made with the aid of GenAI, are swiftly being met with disappointment from many of Kojima's fans, to put it mildly.
As reported by Women's Wear Daily, the 14th edition of the Prada Mode event was previewed at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this week. Part of that involved the film in question, which sees Kojima traveling through space, crashing on a planet, and finding the Chelsea Hotel – the site of Prada Mode.
"Throughout our extended friendship, Hideo Kojima and I have shared the feeling that we were somehow split from the same consciousness moving through different lives while orbiting the same obsessions. That idea became the spark for a film: a space odyssey following us as we traverse a sci-fi dreamscape," Winding Refn says, adding, "the project is both an artistic experiment and a playful exploration of new creative possibilities through AI technology."
And so, Kojima goes to space, something the director has been talking about for years, which also saw Valve boss Gabe Newell set up a SpaceX tour that doesn't appear to have gone ahead yet.
So it goes with films made with AI; it looks terrible. Kojima's face morphs into different faces pretty much every time you see him, and it has that general filter of crap that is prevalent in all AI art. Clearly, hiring people to hang out on a soundstage with low-budget props is clearly too much effort, even if 60's Star Trek holds up better.
Reactions to the post on Twitter have evoked the reactions you'd expect: "Heartbreaking to see such great artists resort to generative AI slop," one response says, while Alien Earth artist Reid Southen responds, "With all the resources you have, AI is what you're going with here? And it's even worse than the typical slop." While another puts it perfectly: "This looks like shit from a butt."
While I'm not too bothered about Winding Refn, seeing Kojima involved in this is extremely disappointing. Obviously, he's always seems keen to mix it up with anyone in Hollywood, but signing on to this after releasing multiple games that directly touch on this is a bit embarrassing. One Bluesky user summed it up well by posting, "Kojima: At long last, we have created The Patriots from my iconic video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Do Not Create the Patriots."
Maybe it's just because Metal Gear Solid 2 is fresh in my mind after a recent replay. Hopefully, this is a one-off, because my goat is washed otherwise.
Reminisce over better times by seeing how good Metal Gear Solid 4 looks in its upcoming Master Collection treatment.
