Ryan Shoots First: Godzilla Minus One

Kaiju weekend continues with Godzilla Minus One! The OG Japanese studio Toho is back with their next take on the iconic “King of the Monsters”. Back in 2016 Shin Godzilla was a extremely successful outing, taking home the Best Picture in Japan. Godzilla has become one of the best exports of Japanese film and has become a focus of the best the country has to offer and Minus One continues that legacy with a heartfelt story about perseverance through utter despair. This is a more human story than Shin was, the film focused heavily on the logistics of Godzilla. Long scene with scientists gathered around tables diving into the biology of the creature. This is a very different take more focused on human emotion and less on lore or biology. 

Part of that comes from the setting. Set in 1940’s Japan in the wake of World War II the country is at its lowest. Entire towns laid waste, and rapid unemployment, and despaired people who watched their sons go to their unwilling deaths only to lose and now have almost nothing. It’s in this world that Godzilla wreaks absolute havoc at the absolute worst time. Echoing this world is our hero Koichi, played by Ryunosuke Kamiki. He is the epitome of post-war Japan, he suffers from survivor’s guilt, and holy hell he gets beat down in this film. I won’t give a way too much cause I really encourage you to see it and I don’t want to cheapen the hero’s journey but it is one of the more satisfying hero journeys we’ve had in a long time. The acting all around is fantastic here, yes you will need to do some reading but do not let that discourage you as there were times when I think the emotion on screen and the commitment from the actors didn’t even require reading, you could easily tell what is being said in the scene. 

But what about the big man himself? Well, this is a return to a more simple Godzilla, both in its time, its lore, and its monster design. While again Shin was a pretty radical design Minus One gives us a very classic but imposing Godzilla. It looks great and every time he lets out that iconic roar it really begs to be experienced in a theatre. He is a force of nature, while the US films have sought to treat him as a character with motivations and goals here he is the embodiment of the misery and despair the Japanese people felt in the aftermath of the war. He stomps kills and destroys indiscriminately. No rhyme or reason, he is destruction. I enjoy the US Monsterverse films and their version of Godzilla but you can definitely tell a difference in how the studios view him. Here in America, everything is bigger, it’s not enough to have Godzilla stomp through a city, we need more, the story has to be bigger, and we need to add all this extra stuff, and while I enjoy that it was such a treat to watch a simple story of people banding together to figure out this monster and save their city. That’s it, no grand scheme to end the universe, no hollow earth or world of other monsters. Just man overcoming grief and despair in the form of a giant freaking radioactive lizard. I’m not sure we here can make a movie like this anymore and I am so happy we can experience things like this. The movie is so well done too, the effects are amazing and done on a small budget, I spoke about this in my RRR review but the advances in CGI technology allowed for foreign films to really be on the same par with multi-million dollar blockbusters in the effects department. This lowers the barrier of entry and opens up some great stories to wider audiences. Beyond the effects, though the sound design is top notch and the set design and costumes were terrific. Everything looks lived in, the destroyed shanty towns and the raggedy clothes and costumes, then the period-accurate cities the movie is lovingly crafted and you can tell the cast and crew really felt the weight of taking on such an icon and they knocked it out of the park. 

Godzilla Minus One is a love letter to a Japanese icon but also to the men and women who put their country back together in the wake of World War 1. With a disbanded military and a US army all tied up with the Soviets it relies on the citizens of Japan to handle their grief and band together to fend off the embodiment of destruction. If you’re put off by subtitles but like disaster and monster movies I encourage you to really take a chance on Godzilla Minus One I do not think you will regret it.