If one film this year had to live up to its potential, it’s Godzilla Minus Zero. Why? Because 2023’s Godzilla Minus One was unbelievable, blowing everything from the MonsterVerse completely out of the water (still enjoyable, though). As someone unfamiliar with the lore of the long-running Japanese series, I was shocked on a scale no other Kaiju film has matched. The fact that I didn’t see it opening weekend and waited until New Year’s Eve to experience what everyone has been talking about says a lot. It is easy to see why fans consider it the BEST in a series with nearly 40 movies and why it won a well-deserved Academy Award for Visual Effects. Director, writer, and VFX artist Takashi Yamazaki and his team at Toho faced the ultimate task: creating a film that matches the original’s excitement and carnage. The anticipation was real, and I avoided trailers to go in as cold as possible. Everyone involved exceeded my expectations, and while Godzilla Minus One had a high bar to clear, it remains one hell of a monster blockbuster that will not disappoint even the most dedicated Godzilla fans.
What’s the Story: Two years after defeating Godzilla and sinking it in Sagami Bay, Japan is still struggling to recover from the devastation of both World War II and the monster’s initial attack. Former kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) has since started a family with his now-wife Noriko (Minami Hamabe), who survived the Ginza attack and is still recovering from her injuries. Together, they are raising their adopted daughter, Akiko (Sae Nagatani), hoping for a peaceful life. However, this peace is short-lived when a dragon-like creature dubbed Ghidorah attacks Matsumoto City. As this new threat looms, Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), now director of the government’s Large-Scale Disaster Bureau, must work with his colleagues to contain the crisis and prevent further loss of life, especially as rumors surface about Godzilla’s potential resurrection.
Because I tried to avoid spoilers, I didn’t know whether any characters from the last one survived or whether the titular giant lizard has another creature to face. Like the first, it follows the same formula: focusing on the human story while giant monsters attack citizens. Does it still work? Yeah, because there’s nothing better than groups of people in rooms trying different ways to take down Godzilla or any monster you can think of, then repeating after a failed attempt. Godzilla Minus Zero doesn’t waste time showing the carnage King Ghidorah caused, which makes this universe feel more realistic than ever. Both this and the last one did this well enough to make the formula refreshing for long-time fans. In a time when citizens are in post-war Japan, and everything has been destroyed by Godzilla, everyone, particularly Shikishima and his family, is hoping to live on with their normal lives without any resemblance to danger, especially since he’s putting his life on the line once he’s called back into action to take Ghidorah out, who can use heat rays and manipulate gravity.
Amid a kaiju blockbuster, Yamazaki doesn’t forget the stakes and the human emotions of those living through trauma and loss, and the aftereffects of what Godzilla put them through. A cycle of violence runs through the decades: these characters may have survived Godzilla, but what can they use to destroy bigger monsters like King Ghidorah? Among the new characters, Min Tanaka as biologist Kanji Murakami carries personal trauma since he’s the only member of his family to survive the horrific Hiroshima bombing and is plotting vengeance against the Americans for what they’ve done.
If I’d seen this on a regular screen instead of in IMAX, it would’ve been a huge disservice. If you need to see anything that has incredible sound design and detailed, jaw-dropping visual effects, this is it, at least for this month. All the action sequences were both terrifying and awesome to watch, and my crowd reacted to the same moments, pretty much on par with the last. The most impressive part is that this is the first Japanese film shot in IMAX, and it’s absolutely cinematic from the first scene to the climax. No wonder its budget of around $15 million is shown and looks better than most recent big-budget films over $200 million. The moment Godzilla finally appeared after emerging out of the ocean- and it does take a while for him to show up- I had a shit-eating grin on my face, knowing full well it was going to be epic. Does this have a shot at winning another Oscar? If you’re going up against Dune: Part Three, probably not. Since this team faces King Ghidorah for a large chunk of the film, it gives us a thrilling, tension-filled aerial dogfight sequence where they plan to take it out with lightning. And when I say it’s loud, I mean it’ll keep you awake whenever you hear Godzilla’s roar or another great score by Naoki Satō. It’s also strange that this is probably the first Godzilla movie to get an R-rating. Just curious to know what that was until I realized it’s a much darker installment featuring imagery of the aftermath of the bombs (charred and bloody bodies) that’s almost seared into my brain after it was over, since this doesn’t hold anything back in showing the realistic horrors still affecting people today.
From what I remember, nearly everything in Minus One moved at a reasonable pace, so you could latch onto the human drama and find yourself unexpectedly invested without much monster presence. The pacing wasn’t as balanced in the second half; you notice a good stretch with no monsters, and they take their time with some of the dialogue-heavy moments. Since it’s now difficult for me to make it through a night without waking up two or three times because of my current condition, that might’ve affected it to the point where a few storylines aren’t as strong to remember, like the weather prodigy Makoto Aoyama, whose knowledge of patterns can help track the monsters. The only thing that distracted me more was the American soldiers, and they were clearly the worst actors of the group.
It took time to get to a point where the action didn’t happen every 15 minutes and where it kept our attention hooked on the screen, and for those who don’t have this advanced knowledge of the franchise, it’ll more than likely turn some off. That said, I stayed engaged with these characters throughout and found myself rooting for Godzilla near the end, to the point where some of the decisions they had to make had me tearing up a couple of times.
Overall, Godzilla Minus Zero may not have the task of surpassing its predecessor, but it’s still a worthy entry in the iconic monster franchise. More or less, Takashi Yamazaki upped the scale with spectacular visual effects and unforgettable battles that will happily please fans. It’s up for debate whether he’ll do another after his upcoming Hollywood production, Grandgear, comes out in two years, but I’ll be down for another.
