#8: Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color
Release Date: December 1st, 2023
Format: Theater (Cinemark XD at The Pike Outlets in Long Beach, CA)
Written by: Takashi Yamazaki
Directed by: Takashi Yamazaki
4 Stars
A philosophical war movie masquerading as a monster flick. Godzilla Minus One explores the value of life, death, war, family, regret, and redemption. Oh, and there’s also a giant lizard shooting heat rays.
The special quality of this movie is that its thoughtfulness and nuance doesn’t mean it’s not terrifyingly fun watching Godzilla destroy everything in its path. This is easily the best version of the monster since its inception. Godzilla convincingly moves through water with power and menace, ripping apart Japanese battleships like they’re made of Legos. And on land, he walks like his 1954 predecessor - ponderous and deliberate - no running or agility. You can feel the weight of him.
Speaking of the 1954 original, Minus One successfully gives tribute to it while at the same time going deeper into Japanese culture post-WWII. I really enjoyed the central message of the movie, that life is more valuable than an honorable death, at least if the honorable death is only in the name of nationalism. And that you get to define your own life and family, even if it’s not conventional
With this deeper exploration of theme and character, and heightened realism, the movie is left with some potholes in the plot that it must navigate. It’s 1945 and a giant sea lizard has destroyed multiple Japanese warships and killed tens of thousands of citizens in a mid-size Japanese city, and the US is not involved or seemingly concerned. Why? The movie has us believe it's because of US-Soviet relations and America being unable to send troops to the Sea of Japan. I’m okay with it, even if it doesn’t make any sense. After all, I’m already suspending my disbelief about a skyscraper-sized lizard.
I wasn’t blown away by the movie’s lead actor, Ryunosuke Kamiki. I had never seen him before, and apparently he’s a popular Japanese actor and former child star, but I thought his performance was thin in the dramatic scenes. And the last scene of the movie where he tearfully reunites with his partner in the hospital had that feeling that it was audience-tested extensively to determine if the story should have a storybook ending. I think I’m glad they went with it. It fits the theme of the story, and ultimately this is a good vs. evil monster movie.
Dakota and I discussed the ranking of Saltburn, The Holdovers, and Godzilla Minus One over beers and pizza at The Fourth Horseman. I had a tough time not putting Godzilla as my favorite, but I also really loved The Holdovers. Godzilla is the more monumental achievement and the more ambitious movie; The Holdovers is better acted and touching. I can’t decide. How about we just merge them into one movie where Paul Giamatti gives Godzilla shit about an essay he wrote on the ancient Greeks?
