Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.
Bizarrely I’ve never seen a Japanese ‘Godzilla’ film despite that being the country of the mythical creature’s origin, and by all accounts, a country with a better record in a moviemaking sense than the litany of Hollywood duds that have focused on the character. ‘Godzilla Minus One’ has had a lot of critical acclaim, hence it getting a UK cinema release, and I went along to see it in a Screen X screening at my local Cineworld for one of their unlimited preview screenings. I can’t recommend the Screen X format, not least because it generally costs extra, but I can recommend the movie as ‘Godzilla Minus One’ is an exciting, intelligent and heartfelt blockbuster that puts many of its recent Hollywood contemporaries to shame.
The movie wastes little time introducing us to its title character, with a sequence on a remote island during World War II where a kamikaze pilot and one engineer are all that is left alive after Godzilla wreaks havoc on the island. Fast forwarding a couple of years later, we join the aforementioned pilot Kōichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki), now wracked with guilt after returning home and discovering his parents at died in the Tokyo bombings. Finding a family of sorts with an orphan child and a woman he meets (Noriko, played by Minami Hamabe), he takes a job as a minesweeper out at sea, which will eventually bring him back into contact with Godzilla.
The sequences at sea are great, with the hit and run battle sequences with Godzilla and Kōichi and his crews small boat referencing ‘Jaws’ – not a bad touchpoint for a man vs beast seafaring adventure. The wider sociopolitical context is subtly drawn on, with post-war Japan brought to life well by the filmmakers and Godzilla working well as a metaphor for the troubles of the country in the aftermath of the war. I liked the characters and felt the story was engaging, with strong character movements built around the well crafted action sequences. If I have any criticism it is in how neat the filmmakers look to tie the story up, and some of the acting is a little ropy at times, but ‘Godzilla Minus One’ is a very good ‘Godzilla’ movie, and one of the best action movies of the year – Hollywood be damned!
Rating: 4/5
Directed By: Takashi Yamazaki
Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Mio Tanaka and Sae Nagatani
'I’ve Never Felt More Scared And More Alive At The Same Time.’ Civil War (2024) 