GODZILLA MINUS ONE (2023)

GODZILLA MINUS ONE (2023)

Tagline: Postwar Japan. From zero to minus.

(Action, Drama, Godzilla Stomping The Crap Out Of Everything) [PG-13]

Godzilla looks really ticked off.

In this one, we are taken to the tail end of WWII and Japan has been completely devastated with its last Kamikazes still in action. One of those Kamikaze pilots Koichi Shikishima fakes a mechanical defect in his plane to land at Odo Island for repairs. He is pretty much disgraced when they find out that he didn’t fulfill his mission, but a monster the locals call "Godzilla" shows up, and suddenly the mechanics there have something completely different to worry about. Shikishima survives but suffers from guilt shutting out some of the great things about his life back home. It doesn’t take long before his past encounter with Godzilla will draw him directly into a new battle…this time to save his home. 

First off, I don’t want to give too much away here, but this movie feels like a more personal retelling of GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (1956). They threw a bunch of intricate details in this thing that really just brought how menacing Godzilla is to life. The effects are spellbinding. This thing far outdoes anything we saw in SHIN: GODZILLA and the story is 100 times better. As a huge fan of the Legendary Godzilla it’s tough for me to say this is better than GODZILLA VS KONG or GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019), but I don’t see how anyone can say the story by itself doesn’t top GODZILLA (2014) and if you read my reviews you already know that thing got at 7 OUT OF 7 from me. 

Tonally, this is a lot more serious take on Godzilla than most of the films in the series. I tend to lean toward films where Godzilla is good, or at least gets along with humans, but if you are going to make him absolutely terrifying, this film accomplished that. One thing we did get in this was a few little bits of humor here and there. Shikishima’s interaction with his “adopted” daughter Akiko is touching and I thought the human story was actually incredible and gripping. 

Acting wise it was nice to see Minami Hamabe in this. I loved her in SHIN KAMEN RIDER, and this was another great outing for her as Noriko Oishi. Ryunosuke Kamiki is fantastic in this as Koichi Shikishima. I thought the role was actually pretty demanding and he handled it well. If you ever get a chance to read his back story, it’s pretty much a miracle that he’s even here on the planet right now. 

One of the greatest things about this thing is the incredible design work. This is actually one of the best-looking Godzilla designs we have seen. I love how the spikes pop even more out of his back when he gets ready to breathe his radioactive ray, it’s just really awesome. The sound was really well done as well as the movement making Godzilla seem “heavier” than in other efforts. I do think that Gareth Edwards did an incredible job on GODZILLA 2014 when it came to making Godzilla seem absolutely gigantic and larger than life, but in this film, you could almost “feel” the weight of this thing. I was sitting close to the movie screen and I felt myself dodging Godzilla when he was on screen. It was just really well done. 

With wonderful sets, attention to detail, impeccable design work, a story that draws out every emotion, and an amazing score I can’t give GODZILLA MINUS ONE anything but a 7 out of 7. It’s definitely one of if not the best film of 2023. One thing to note, this film is from TOHO, not a US distribution company, so you will need to read subtitles at least until they maybe someday decide to release an English dub version. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF TOHO COMPANY AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.