Godzilla Minus One

Godzilla Minus One is an amazing spectacle on a retelling of a classic Kaiju movie from the prospective of a post-war Japanese veteran who leaves one horror for the next while making an arrangement of "friends and family" along the way. The story was so compelling that it didn't feel like two hours past and I was craving for more. The classic Godzilla sounds design, masterful cinematography, along with the original score from Akira Ifukube made this movie an absolute masterpiece on storytelling! The visuals of the Godzilla update made him more memorable and menacing for the citizens of a distraught Tokyo. Highly recommended!

Those wondering, according to Yamazaki, "Minus One" refers to the level of where Japan had to start when rebuilding Japan after WWII. If the atomic bombing of Japan was the countries lowest point in history ("0"), then the emergence of Godzilla puts them lower ("-1").

As many have mentioned, this movie goes back to Godzilla being the bad guy versus a hero/antihero that Hollywood has been making in the last 10+ years.

Unlike more recent Godzilla movies made in the US, the human story is very specific on how to deal and overcome Godzilla and the aftermath of WWII, which is good; not too overbearing as other Godzilla movies with the human element to it.

If you can ignore the Japanese only speaking and some bad CGI (here and there, not too bad), then this is a good movie to go see during a thin month (Dec 2023) of blockbuster movies.

My biggest criticism, wished the hospital scene was more dire or devastating (you'll know what I mean when you see the film).

And yes, there is a post-credit.

I'm a huge fan of Godzilla, I think the original from 1954 is a genuine classic and a great film (not just a great "monster" movie). The Heisei era is my overall favorite, and I thought Shin Godzilla was weird in all the right ways. It was one of my favorite movies from that year.

This one might be even better. You actually care about the characters. It deals with some very serious topics, such as survivors guilt and the aftermath of war violence on civilians and conflicting emotions around national pride and feeling betrayed by your government. Yet the film is also exciting and optimistic and has some of the best Godzilla sequences ever put to screen. My favorite depiction of Godzilla is as a force of nature, representing the power of the atomic bomb or the fury of war itself. That's the Godzilla you get here. I think this film can very favorably be compared to American classics like Jaws and Jurassic Park, too.

I don't want to say too much, it's best to just experience the movie for yourself. The only part that felt a little false to me was the very end, but I understand why the director wanted to do it that way. The special effects look great for the most part, but there are a couple of shots here and there that aren't perfect when compared to some Hollywood movies. However, it hardly matters. This is an incredible film.

9/10 easily, probably closer to 9.5

My current Godzilla rankings:

1) Gojira (1954) 2) Godzilla Minus One (2023) 3) Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) 4) Shin Godzilla (2016) 5) Return of Godzilla (1984)

Special mentions to GMK, Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) and Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

I just saw the advanced screening of Godzilla minus one and I have to say I was very pleased with the final product. If I had any complaints about this movie it is just that the CGI Godzilla often looked weird similar to a video game. However when Godzilla looked good, it was very impressive especially in the water scenes.

Unlike every other Godzilla movie I have ever seen this is the first Godzilla movie where I actually liked on the characters and the storyline actually made sense and touched the human heart. It showed what people were dealing with at that time which was directly after world war II and how people were suffering not only with the after effects of the war but also the trauma from being exposed to a huge monster destroying cities.

Godzilla may be a fictional character but loss and tragedy are real, and people are dealing with it everyday.

Overall I really like this movie and it is obviously a prequel to the original Godzilla movie that came out over 70 years ago. Once you see this movie at some point you will understand why.

What I would really like to see since it is clear that there have been multiple Godzilla's at some point in time is some type of legitimate crossover between toho and the American studios who are producing Godzilla monster verse in America. Last thing I or any fans want to see is a competition on who could spit out different and unique Godzilla's in two different countries.

Since this is a Toho and Japanese produced movie, it would have been nice to have some of the theater edition Godzilla toys for sale like they do in Japan on every release.

I love monster movies. I enjoy big, dumb, fun action movies. So it shouldn't be difficult for me to like Godzilla-related movies. Let's look at what Hollywood has put out (with my rating):

Godzilla (2014) - 7 stars.

Kong: Skull Island - 5 stars.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - 3 stars.

Godzilla vs. Kong - 4 stars.

Aside from the 2014 version, all of my reviews mention decent action surrounded by a terrible movie. But I can't remember a single action scene from them. Comparatively, the action scenes in Godzilla Minus One are INCREDIBLE. They are fully memorable and had my jaw dropped as far as it would go.

BUT... this movie is 90% drama, only 10% Godzilla scenes. So you will fail unless you have a great story with fully developed characters and arcs, with full investment in those characters, with deep themes of trauma and remorse, and with emotionally powerful setups and payoffs.

Who in the world would have expected that to be the case.

This movie isn't just BEASTLY, it's sooooo good. Nearly every filmmaking aspect is well-done.

Hollywood, please learn from this. I'm begging you.

(1 viewing, 1/18/2024)