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Godzilla Minus One

Tyler Harlow

Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, Kuranosuke Sasaki


Director: Takashi Yamazaki


After being one of the few to survive an attack by a dinosaur-like creature named Godzilla, former kamikaze pilot Koichi (Kamiki) finds himself back in Tokyo trying to put the pieces of his life back together after WWII. Here he meets Noriko (Hamabe), who has lost her family and is taking care of a baby she found in the rubble during the war. Wracked with survivor's guilt, Koichi lets her and the child stay with him as he works as a minesweeper to make money. After being awoken by the Bikini Atoll tests, an angry and mutated Godzilla sets his sights on Japan for revenge, forcing Koichi to confront his past and save those close to him.


I must confess, my recent Godzilla knowledge is solely based on Warner Brothers' recent trilogy and I missed 2016's Shin Godzilla. Based on a short internet skim, this doesn't feel like a continuation of that story but rather a stand-alone version that I hope gets sequels because this was a blast from start to finish. When you think of a good Godzilla story, you think of a cheesy human storyline mixed with awesome Kaiju carnage. And that exactly what this delivered.


There are some truly pulse-pounding action scenes in this. The most memorable to me being Godzilla chasing a minesweeper boat as they drop mines behind them to attack him. It's simple, easy-to-follow and feels like a no-win situation with a boat full of human characters you actually care about. The simplicity of this scene is matched by the destruction of Ginza, culminating in Godzilla unleashing his heat ray. This part also contains the best shot in the movie, as Godzilla stands over the destruction with a large mushroom cloud looming in the background. Its pretty impressive considering the special effects budget this probably had. The director, Takashi Yamazaki, also wrote the movie and did the special effects. It doesn't look perfect all the time but it absolutely puts the visuals in Expend4bles to shame.


I mentioned the cheesy human story line and it definitely is that, filled with over-the-top emotional moments and bad line delivery. However, the movie does a good job setting up the stakes for all the characters that keep the characters grounded and likable. The ending hit harder than I was expecting it to. And despite Koichi being a deserter (he faked his plane having issues to get out of completing his kamikaze mission) and having a chance to save people in the opening Godzilla attack, Ryunosuke Kamiki sells his guilt and puts him on a believable redemption path. While the movie does try to build their relationship, I wish we had gotten some more time with Koichi and Noriko leading up to Godzilla's return. It would have helped sell a big emotional moment late in the film more.


These are minor quibbles about characters. The movie ultimately does a good job balancing the human elements with the Zilla mayhem. This was an earth-shattering good time.


Grade: A




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