Godzilla Minus One Movie Review

The dinosaur-turned-monster is back and in rare form!

Let’s see, where am I at with Godzilla in 2023? My favorite is the 1968 Destroy All Monsters (directed by Ishirô Honda and Jun Fukuda and written by Ishirô Honda and Takeshi Kimura), probably because of the Rocketship (Moonlight SY-3) and futuristic bend. I also love every movie based on Mechagodzilla. After a while, the entire franchise became…a franchise, and it was about merging Godzilla with whatever was going on in pop culture. [yes, I am ignoring the 1998 Godzilla movie with Mathew Broderick- as that doesn’t count].

I did like the Matrix-inspired 2004 Godzilla: Final Wars. How could any movie go wrong with Don Frye (MMA Legend) cast as a battleship captain? The theme song made it to my movie/anime playlist, and is a favorite.

I watched everything in-between just to keep current with the lore, but pretty much wrote Godzilla off as another thing that was cool when I was a kid, but the modern license owners don’t get it- and are destined to keep making crap content while they milk whatever nostalgic love is left.

Detour: I liked Kong: Skull Island. I thought the Apocalypse Now-Full Metal Jacket-Platoon-inspired setting was refreshing. The island seemed super-dangerous and the dark humor worked, and I can even forgive the inept copter pilots during the first appearance of Kong. More on this later…

Godzilla (2014) gave me a ton of hope for the franchise. My review of that movie is here:

Movie Review Godzilla 2014

As stated, I thought Bryan Cranston should have been in the movie more and I wish the trailer shared that a marine-type-guy was going to be the main character. I felt- finally, the Americans did the franchise justice. The trailer for Godzilla: King of Monsters (2019) was the best thing I had seen in a while. I mean, I even pulled the song off that trailer and added it to my playlist.

Man, I love this franchise again! Then comes the fan-fiction-fantasy Godzilla VS. Kong (2021), they got some things right (a clear winner of who is stronger) and some things wrong (center of the earth and shuttlecraft weirdness). There are some bad plot holes, strangely written story points and the terrible use of Mechagodzilla. I was officially done with the franchise again. Modern Hollywood at its best…or worst.

Japan releases Shin Godzilla (2016), directed by Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion) and really upped the Godzilla power levels, which seemed like a shot at the American sensibility- as if to say “the Japanese Godzilla will always be the champion of destruction”. The Godzilla moved a little stiff, but the music (cue Evangelion) and the action scenes were incredible. In-credible. The politics and theme of an ineffective Japanese government being so weighed down by …politricks, they are unable to do anything against-about and with Godzilla. There is an ambiguous ending, and somewhat of a cliff hanger about what Godzilla may evolve into next. I wasn’t overly interested to find out.

I watched all the Netflix Godzilla animated movies and was sorely disappointed.

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017)

 Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018)

Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018)

I kinda felt like that’s enough- let the franchise chill out until somebody has a clear vision and a story to tell. No more cashing in on a franchise. Let Godzilla sleep at the bottom of the ocean.

He’s back, baby!

Godzilla Minus One: Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.

I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been fooled by seeing glimpses of destruction, you know, a building ripped apart and/or some large item with impossibly big bite marks.

Director Takashi Yamazaki makes a GREAT Godzilla movie that stars Minami Hamabe, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Sakura Ando and Kuranosuke Sasaki. In most Godzilla movies, I either like the monster action or I like the people drama (Bryan Cranston for the win)- rarely both. For Minus One, I loved both! The Godzilla theme by Akira Ifukube plays in two key points that really cemented this move- as about as perfect as you can get.

The plot follows (with no spoilers): A WWII pilot comes across Godzilla a few times in his life, and it becomes his personal mission to destroy the ancient dinosaur-turned-monster. The people parts are the main attraction as I cared more about them than Godzilla. It’s sort like the Walking Dead (Cable Series) formula in a movie. I leaned back in my seat and was angry at some of the characters. I leaned forward and was on the edge of my seat. I almost shed a tear and clapped at some small victories. I laughed at the funny parts and felt sad was silent, heavy in thought- during some of the somber moments.

The special effects are serviceable and prove a thing I’ve said about movies for a while: special effects do not need to carry a movie. A good story can compensate for just about anything. And we have a good story here. For most franchises, when a character becomes popular, they make them/it the good guy so we can root for them. Franchises like Terminator and Alien are guilty of this. This move is a throwback- to when you rooted for the humans and hope they find some way to stop the villain Godzilla. I highly recommend this movie. I saw it in 4DX, which means my chair rocked back and forth, mist was sprayed on my head during the ocean battles, vibrations and wind was blowing during key moments. It’s basically like watching a movie while riding on a rollercoaster. I experienced this during Top Gun: Maverick and since then- has become a favorite way to watch movies.

Be warned though, this is a Japanese movie being shown to American audiences. It’s subtitled, but/and very easy to follow and you’ll understand anything that isn’t directly translated- like letters or signs. And actually, it’s what I like best about it- it feels authentic- like somebody went out and made a Real Godzilla Movie. If you thought it was over for the Godzilla franchise, I’ll be the first to tell you the happy news- Japan got it right. We have a winner.

Dokta Strange tells me the Monarch series is really good. So maybe all hope is not lost.

Long live the King. I’m not a movie critic, I just critique movies. The full list of movies I’ve reviewed is here:

https://dynamicsplus.wordpress.com/category/movie-and-anime-reviews/list-of-every-reviewed-movie/