Godzilla: Minus One is a difficult movie to review, especially if you are a Godzilla fan. How can I say its good without coming across as bias? How can explain why it's good without giving spoilers or stunting your expectations? There is no answer to these questions so I will simply be honest. This movie deserves to be talked about. We should celebrate everything that makes this film work. This film, you see, is EXCEPTIONALLY good.
Going into the film
To understand what I am about to tell you, I need to explain my mindset going into this film. For the longest time, I didn't know this film existed. The first I heard of this was roughly one year ago (on writing this) when TOHO announced they finished filming a new Godzilla movie. My only thought was "Holy shit, when did they START filming?!" In the spirit of that, I didn't look up anything on the movie. I watched the public trailers as they released and nothing more. I had no expectation of what this film could be. All Godzilla movies are different for all the good and ill that nets them. I just wanted this film to stand on its own merits. I was blown away
Plot
In a lot of ways, the plot of Godzilla films are very simple. In broad terms, this one differs little. A military outpost on Odo Island is attacked by a mysteries creature. This attack and the weight of the war leave the few survivors broken and terrified. Our main character, Koichi Shikishima, tries to put his life together. In the background, Nuclear tests mutate the creature that attacked the Odo island outpost into the monster Godzilla. As Godzilla makes himself known, Koichi must deal with his past traumas while helping the rest of the heroes desperately find a way to deal with this monster.
This focus on the human story does ground the film. Everything is easily understood. The stakes are made clear. I cannot say this with enough intensity: This film made me fear and dread Godzilla like no other film has done. This is all thanks to it's clear storytelling, fantastic atmosphere and Phenomenal human characters that carry this film better than any other human in a Godzilla movie to date.
Characters
The main character of this film is Koichi Shikishima (played by Ryunosuke Kamiki). Formerly Koichi was a soldier for the Japanese forces in WWII. I will not say exactly what he was as it does play an important part of the film. After returning home to a destroyed Tokyo, Koichi comes across our main heroine, Noriko Oishi (played by Minami Hamabe). Noriko picked up a young child orphaned by the bombings of Japan. Koichi and Noriko form a found family as they pick the pieces of their life back little by little.
Eventually, other characters are introduced as Kenji finds new employment for the sake of Noriko and Akiko. Kenji works on a boat with the wizened Yoji, the plucky young Shiro Mizushima and the determined scientist Kenji Noda. These characters come from different wartime backgrounds. Each experiencing different sides of the war and bonding over how they share the hope of going forward.
You'll notice I'm not talking in detail about what each character does for a living or their specific wartime views. This is intentional as doing so would spoil a lot of the magic of why these characters work so well together. This film tackles extraordinary heavy subjects such as PTSD and survivors guilt. Those two things are only the tip of the iceberg of course. The characters and even Godzilla delve into very uncomfortable subject matter.
The characters accentuate these topics with spectacular acting across the board. No line delivery is half-assed, no emotion is undersold and every expression is precisely what it needs to be. Thanks to the well written story and brilliant acting, this film is able to convey all of the heart and emotion possible. It is thanks to this raw emotion and how much we feel for these characters, that we want to see them survive Godzilla.
Godzilla
In no uncertain terms, Godzilla is a monster in this movie. I don't mean monster in any fantastical sense either. We don't see Godzilla as a monster because he's grotesque like Shin Godzilla, giant and goofy as in the Showa era or a walking disaster like in the Heisei era. This Godzilla is a monster for one very simple reason; purpose.
Everything this Godzilla does, has purpose to it. Every swipe of it's tail, slash of it's claw or crunch of it's jaw has the intent of destroying something or bringing harm to someone. This Godzilla is a mutated beast that humanity has no hope of reasoning with. This Godzilla is a merciless territorial predator that has added part of Japan to it's territory. It will stop at nothing to demolish anything that is in its way or invading it's domain.
The monstrous quality of Godzilla is shown best by the design. Rigid spikes, sharp eyes and a toothy grin show how threatening this creature can be. This is all despite this being one of the smallest iterations of Godzilla to date. admittedly, this is a fact I forgot while watching. This Godzilla has such a powerful presence that even though it is smaller that other Godzilla iterations, it feels just as ferocious and powerful as any of them.
I mentioned previously that this Godzilla left me afraid. That is no lie. Godzilla as a concept is not one I find particularly scary as I have been watching these films since the 90's. This Godzilla though, felt evil. I was scared of what this iteration of the kaiju could do. I was scared for the main characters and how they could even escape this monstrosity. Everything Godzilla did, every building or vessel destroyed, every person killed made him feel that much more vicious and unstoppable.
Before I issue my final thoughts on the movie, it should be said that this design is very unique to the kaiju and I would be remiss if I didn't say my thoughts on it. Many compare the design to the American films of recent years. While I can vaguely see why, I still disagree with that assessment. I see a vicious animal. I see more of the Heisei era than anything. The design is as if the simple design of the 90's had the rigid detail of the earliest Godzilla movies. combine this with sharper edges, scarred flesh and a much darker demeanor. As a standalone, I prefer others, but this is by far the most detailed and terrifying Godzilla has ever looked. This design is simple, but terrifying and I love it.
Final thoughts
I did everything in my power to avoid spoilers to this movie as I do believe everyone should watch this film. Not every Godzilla film is for everyone. There is only a handful I would recommend to a general audience and all for different reasons. This film has transcended the kaiju genre. This movie is more than Godzilla destroying a city for the upteenth time. This film is a heartfelt drama about the struggles of people post wartime. This film is a hopeful story of overcoming trauma, but it is also a devastating reminder of all the monsters we face both real and imaginary.
This film made me sad and happy, it made me scared, but then made me hopeful. This film left me speechless as at the time there was nothing of value I could say to justify how good this film is. This is not just a Godzilla movie with mindless violence. This movie is a piece of art that ALL people should experience.
As a movie for all audiences this film tackles difficult subject matter in respectful and thought-provoking ways. The incredible acting and atmosphere guide us through a deviously simple plot. While the film is not telling a new story with Godzilla and some of it may be predictable, the human story is the most unique and carries this film beyond expectations. The biggest flaw this film has is not telling a new innovated Godzilla story. Let us remember a story does not need to be unique to be fantastic.
This film has easily become welcome among the best of the best Godzilla films in addition to easily becoming one of the most important films of this generation.
