Scare Value Award Winner – Best Picture
Top 10 Film of 2023
Godzilla Minus One review.
Delivering awe inspiring spectacle and some of the best human characters in the franchise’s long history. One of the best Godzilla movies ever made.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Godzilla Minus One
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki
Written by Takashi Yamazaki
Starring Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka and Kuranosuke Sasaki
Godzilla Minus One Review
We are less than a year away from the 70th anniversary of Godzilla. With the release of Godzilla Minus One…the franchise has never felt stronger. Writer/director Takashi Yamazaki combines his expert visual effects with one of the best stories in the seven decades of the series. A much more personal story than the series usually strives for leads to earned emotional moments. The King of the Monsters has never been more destructive and awe inspiring than he is here. This is one of the great Godzilla movies.
Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a kamikaze pilot who abandons his assignment and lands on Odo Island. He freezes when tasked with shooting Godzilla when he arrives on the island leading to the deaths of almost everyone else. Shikishima returns home in shame, devastated by PTSD from the war and his encounter with the monster. His life changes when Noriko (Minami Hamabe) sets up residence in his home with baby Akiko. It changes again when Godzilla reemerges.
Godzilla Minus One feels more like the 1954 original than most of the franchise’s installments. Part of that is its immediate post-World War II setting. Most of it is the showcasing of human characters you care about. In many ways, this is arguably the most emotional and personal story in the history of the franchise. Shikishima gives the movie a lead character whose journey is worth following. These movies are often hurt by the human stories…Yamazaki’s script gives us memorable people caught in the shadow of World War II. Godzilla’s emergence offers them an opportunity for redemption and success.
The heavy focus on personal stories may sound off-putting for those seeking out the thrills that great kaiju movies. If that is more your pleasure…Godzilla Minus One features some of the most jaw dropping kaiju action in the history of the series. If you have any interest in this film…see it on the biggest screen you can find. The destruction caused by Godzilla has never been more impressive than it is here. From the sea to the city…the monster unleashes absolute Hell on a population still trying to piece together their lives following the war.
This version of Godzilla isn’t interested in defending the world. Taking out battleships with a single strike and leveling buildings with the swing of its tail. Its atomic breath has never been more impressive or destructive. The spectacle of Godzilla Minus One is incredible. Finally having people that we care about in peril elevates it even further.
Shikishima is haunted by his decisions at the beginning of the movie. He doesn’t believe that he deserves the happiness that a random encounter with Noriko and Akiko can provide him. The makeshift family dynamic works well. Things can get a little melodramatic at times…but the script is always heading towards the correct choice.
Shikishima finds work destroying mines left in the waters around Japan. There, he meets others struggling with the end of the war. For most Godzilla Minus One becomes a story about redemption. Shikishima’s arc is more about personal acceptance…and revenge. The script ties the two diverging ideas together beautifully. Ryunosuke Kamiki gives a tremendous lead performance. Minami Hamabe equals him at every turn with a role that begins as an oddity and ends up integral. Each of the supporting actors carve out interesting, well-defined characters. There’s no shortage of motivation and payoff for all involved.
But this is Takashi Yamazaki’s movie. His script gives it a beating heart. His visual effects give it top notch spectacle. He directed a gorgeous and moving picture. One that can drop your jaw and put a lump in your throat. It uses cinema’s most famous monster in ways that haven’t been done before. His arrival ushers in a signal that the war may be over…but the fight is not. Extending the terror for the people effected by the war. Or a chance at redemption and revenge. All while unleashing a powerful and devastating version of the iconic character. Godzilla Minus One is a high point for a franchise showing no signs of slowing down.
Scare Value
It’s amazing that we’re still getting fresh takes on Godzilla in its seventh decade of existence. While Shin Godzilla took on government bureaucracy…Godzilla Minus One excises the government completely to show a much more personal side of the story. It creates a unique opportunity to explore characters dealing with losing a war…and being presented with a way to win the battle. When Yamazaki sets his sights on delivering the spectacle of the King of the Monsters…he shows off the most impressive destruction we’ve seen in the history of the franchise. One of the year’s best.
4.5/5
Godzilla Minus One Link
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