Like many, I had no idea this movie existed and was coming out in late 2023. But when a few moviegoers (online and some at my work) started to talk about how great this movie was, I knew I had to see it in the cinema for myself. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed, as Godzilla Minus One is by far the best Godzilla I have seen. This movie is smart; it looks realistic, pays homage to the original film from 1954 and makes us care about humans! I can just write this review about these points, not even talking about Godzilla; that is how you know this movie rocks.
The number one reason Godzilla Minus One works is the human element. We get this unique look at a failed kamikaze pilot who feels like his war isn’t over because he didn’t go through with his suicidal mission and “failed” at the last minute. And that was the fascinating part, how his life after the war is still defined by what he did (or specifically didn’t) do during it. Maybe the most surprising fact about Godzilla Minus One is that this film is one of the best and most honest war/post-war movies we have gotten in ages. Many movies have talked about this “phenomenon”, how if you fought in the war, the war is not over for you when “the last shot is fired”, and the baggage many have come back from the war with. Godzilla Minus One did this in a way I have never seen before. The themes of guilt and feeling like you shouldn’t have been the one to survive (especially if your job was literally to die for your country) are some of the strongest I have seen in ages.
Another thing I appreciated about this movie is how we get the sense of togetherness and people having to rely on each other rather than the government. In this movie, we see the government being not efficient enough due to them recovering from World War II. But also, even when somebody listens and sends ships to help out against Godzilla, they are nothing but another thing for Godzilla to break. There was this aspect of the “common men” having to make a stand, even though it might have felt pointless to fight back against something as big and deadly as Godzilla, the ultimate “David vs Goliath” story.
And that brings me back to the “main star”, Godzilla… herself? Itself? Himself? Anyway, this Godzilla is lethal. Where the US versions lost their edge with this character was to make it more “buddy” like; for us to believe it could ever be on our side, just give it a chance, man! But this one feels like this evil God-like creature that is only interested in destruction. Every time Godzilla is on the screen, you feel a sense of dread, urgency and almost horror at times due to this monster being… well, monster-like. Godzilla faces little to no challenges, and that makes it terrifying.
What brings that element to life properly is, of course, the CGI. And here is where I will bring nothing new to the discussion, but I will just point out the obvious – the CGI here is awesome. This Godzilla doesn’t look smooth; it feels scaly, real and humongous. And whilst you can tell the people behind this movie are paying homage to the original film (Godzilla looks a bit rubbery at times), it never bothered me! I could forgive the occasional scene here and there because everything else felt so real that I didn’t care. Not only that, I loved that decision, alongside this movie utilising the same Godzilla sound effect! And to top it all off? This movie’s estimated budget is $15 million! Not $100, not $150 million…! This is what I and many others have been screaming about for ages now; there is no excuse for piss-poor CGI. Especially if your movie’s budget is around $150 – $200 million (looking at you, Disney!), give those poor CGI artists more time and money and let them do what they do best. Godzilla Minus One is a prime example of how we could get more movies like this.
My only tiny issue is with the very ending, and I am talking about the very last minute. I won’t go into spoilers, but let me just say there is a character that shouldn’t be alive. Now, was my tiny heart happy that this character was there? Sure. But my brain took over and managed to pull me out just a bit, so I understood that this specific character shouldn’t be there. But that’s a tiny complaint; I can see myself rewatching this movie and not caring about this detail as much. Because even though it doesn’t fit “logically”, it kind of fits thematically. This will be a fascinating rewatch, and I have a feeling it will bother me less, if at all.
Overall, Godzilla Minus One is a surprise that came out of nowhere and managed to do several things right. In an age where we have seen many war movies, here’s one war movie with a different look at the “survivor’s guilt”. In an age of CGI-fest movies that cost way too much and look… not great, here’s one that costs less than one A-lister’s salary and looks cool, exciting and feels real. But most importantly, in an age where we have seen several US Godzilla movies, we get Godzilla Minus One, and it shows us how it’s done and how to get us to care about the human characters whilst delivering kick-ass action and emotional moments. If you can, watch this movie in the cinema, on the biggest screen possible.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke
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