Godzilla Minus One

• (ゴジラ-1.0マイナスワン, Gojira Mainasu Wan)
• Written and Directed With Visual Effects As Well by Takashi Yamazaki
• October 18, 2023 (Shinjuku Toho Building) / November 3, 2023 (Japan)

Following WWII, a pilot suffers from PTSD after an encounter with the creature known as “Godzilla.”

Godzilla Minus One is one of those movies that came along with a great deal of hype and a lot of praise. I’m always suspicious of those movies because by the time I get around them-be it immediately or down the road such as in this case-they fail to live up to the hype.

I can’t say all the hype and praise I’ve heard is deserved but I can say much of that hype and praise is deserved. This is a kaiju movie that’s not just big monster battles. It’s a film about trauma and pain and regret and love and loss and guilt that uses a giant monster to tell that story. It resonated because it is about human things and while there is spectacle, spectacle is icing on the cake and not the main draw. That is why it made back something like 10x what it cost to produce.

This was done on a budget of $10 to 12 million with a box office of $115.8 million-a significantly smaller budget than your average Hollywood blockbuster. And yet somehow it’s not only a better done movie but it looks as good and in some cases better than the current Monsterverse movies being pumped out by Legendary pictures. Not throwing shade on them but if what we get here can be accomplished on a smaller budget and stand strong next to what they accomplish on a monstrous budget (pun intended) you need to wonder what they are exactly spending all that money on.

Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki performance/ Darren Barnet English dub) is a kamikaze pilot with no wish to die who just so happens to land on the island where we first meet Godzilla. The story is largely about him coming to terms with his past and trying to get to a point where he can build a future. He must learn to dream and hope and love again but can’t so long as he is still mentally trapped in his war which is his internal struggle to come to grips with his personal failure. Because of his failures, he doesn’t feel justified in moving on. For a movie with a giant lizard that breathes nuclear fire it gets into some deep stuff!

Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe performance/Ell [?] English bub) pretty much attaches herself to him whether he wanted it or not when he returns home. She herself is caring for the orphaned Akiko (Sae Nagatani) with the three making a patchwork family. It is clear there is feeling between them but as the movie goes on there’s the hint that she begins to believe he may never be able to express it. As the monster part of the story kicks in she announces she has found a job and is working to become self-sufficient. Is this some kind of romantic melodrama with a giant lizard? I think it is!

All the characters we meet have lost a little something because of the war. Being a piece of themselves or members of their family, the events of the movie take on a dimension of reclaiming that to some level. Kōichi needs to reclaim the parts of himself that he lost because he viewed his inaction as a character failure on his part. He’s lost his family and self-respect. Noriko has lost her old life. Akiko is an orphan and needs to become part of a family again. The people on the minesweeping boat are bitter over serving in a conflict they never want it and seek to reclaim not only a sense of self-worth but a sense of control over their own destiny. 

There’s a strong antiwar undercurrent to this all. Nobody is proud to have served in World War II. In fact the majority if not the entirety of the characters can’t believe they had to serve in a hopeless war. Shirō Mizushima (Yuki Yamada performance/Khoi Dao English dub) is the only one who has any positive views on the war and he never served. The difference between those who have experienced it and those who think it’s a fun adventure. Commentary?

These are things the average viewer can identify. Maybe they haven’t gone through everything or just the majority of what the characters are going through in an emotional way, but it is something the viewer can understand because it is a human story. 

Takashi Yamazaki focused on building relationships over the giant monster. Despite being a Godzilla movie Godzilla is in very little of this. He’s a supporting character in his own film but then again this film is not about him. The director wisely understood that you needed to care about the characters in order to sell the whole thing.

This is a little over two hours but Godzilla Minus One never ever feels like it. There is always something happening to advance the narrative or just keep in invested. Never a dead moment. Along with superb directing it’s perfectly edited. There is just enough to establish the moment, but not so much that it creates a lag.

The weirdest part of this is a plot point that the Japanese cannot get any help from the United States because it might inflame tensions with the Soviets. Huh? If it did, it would play badly internationally for the Soviets plus I can’t even imagine any nation being against helping out a country when a giant monster is attacking. It cut out an American/foreigner saving the day somehow but felt difficult to swallow the more they brought it up.

Godzilla Minus One is a great film. There is plenty of action and cool special effects to please somebody looking for action but if you want just a little bit more there’s plenty of that here too. Highly recommend!