MOVIE REVIEW: Godzilla Minus One

As an objective bias I am a lifelong Godzilla geek. I’ve been there for the very best, the very worst and the very WTF the franchise has had to offer. It’s a fandom that began in my earliest days and continues on through the present. I saw all that to make the following statement as I have just come from the theater. Godzilla Minus One is objectively the best Godzilla film since Gojira was released in 1954. A statement I do not make lightly given the scope of the franchise in Japan and abroad here in the States.

This film is quite a rare one because it is not only written by its director but Takashi Yamazaki is also responsible for the visual effects. This allows the film to be the most complete Godzilla film in terms of vision I’ve ever witnessed. While making films is a collaborative effort unlike any other there is a singularity of vision that is unmatched in my opinion. Yamazaki can tailor the Godzilla shots in a way no one else might because of this. As a human this film makes you feel small in a way which only the Rolland and Emerich Godzilla 1998 did before.

Now before you bring out the torches and pitchforks, while those two gentlemen understood how to frame a shot for maximum effort with a fantastical element in place, Yamzaki knows how to make it truly frightening. Minus One has teeth! Godzilla is not a hero as in the Monsterverse and not a force of nature as presented in the Heisei and Millenium eras of the franchise, but instead is an actual atomic monster! We are treated to Godzilla both pre and post atomic testing in the Pacific. We understand its nature before and after Bikini Atoll, going from a creature to a legitimate embodiment of the atomic bomb that has permanently scarred the psyche of Japan. Godzilla is both the fury of nature and the fury or man birthed into a horrifying new creature.

While Shin Godzilla did in fact give us a monstrous, uncaring engine of destruction with its Godzilla, Shin was an impersonal ruination of man and all his works. With Minus One I felt that this was all very personal. The beast seeks us out after we unintentionally nuked him. His destruction of Ginza is wanton and furious. This is no mere animal wandering through the fragile hives of humanity but once again a true monster, and Yamzaki’s shots are terrifying. Everything is from the human perspective, be it on the ground, on a roof, aboard a ship or flying a plane. We are never allowed to forget just how tiny and fragile we are in the presence of this impossible beast.

The cinematography is spectacular from its opening shot right up until its closing scene. Visually Minus One is a masterpiece. The framing and shot composition are perfection. The selection of angles are used to incredible effect and Yamazaki both foreshadows and bookends this tale with images of bombs and destruction. It’s all artfully done.

But what sets this movie apart from all previous works but Gojira itself is the story. This is truly the first Godzilla movie since then where I really, and I mean REALLY, cared about the human characters and their lives! This movie will tug sharply at your heart strings! It is of course culturally Japanese and some themes and ideas are very Japanese to the uninitiated but Minus One reaches past all that. I could hear the audience around me reacting appropriately to the pathos, the joys, comraderies, triumphs, sorrows, fears and guilt of the characters. The movie provides a very human experience that reaches us all.

The cast is outstanding, with Ryunosuke Kamiki giving the performance of a lifetime as the tortured and conflicted Koichi. Minami Hamabe compliments him perfectly as Noriko who becomes the most intimate member of his found family when Koichi returns from the war to find he has nothing and no one. There is no one in the cast who doesn’t pull their weight and more but it is Loichi’s arc that is the most significant.

Set at the end of World War II, Minus One takes full advantage of this setting to really detail the state of a people struggling to recover from absolute defeat. It is very much a love letter to those who stumbled out of the ashes of war to courageously rebuild a once mighty empire into a much wiser nation. This film is not just a must see for Godzilla fans but is a drama worthy of attention just for that aspect alone and will also satisfy war movie buffs.

SCORE:
5 out of 5