Godzilla Minus One

Movies

Thoughts

Godzilla Minus One might be the best movie I've seen this year. Even better than Across the Spider-Verse.

It's definitely the best Godzilla movie I've ever seen. And while my hopes for this film were high, I was still somehow completely blown away by what this movie managed to accomplish.

In 2016 I wrote what was probably my best essay in academia. It was a contrasting look at the way America approaches apocalyptic media compared to Japan. My argument was that America's isolationist tendencies meant that its apocalyptic media was (is?) exceedingly hopeless, focused on people turning against one another, and very, very Catholic. Japan's apocalyptic media, subsequently, focused on people banding together to unite against a singular threat and overcoming the odds - not exactly surprising, given that was the onus of Godzilla's creation as a property.

With that said, Minus One is the most literal a Godzilla film has ever been, entirely to its benefit. It focuses on a "failed" Kamakaze pilot who returns home to try and rebuild a life in the ashes of WWII's devestation. Unfortunately a giant, pesky lizard that recently had a nuclear bomb dropped on him is working to make that very difficult for him.

Minus One could have easily taken out Godzilla and it would still be a fantastic film. The human drama is just as important as the Big G here, and it's SO effective. You find yourself rooting for the entire cast as they come together to defeat Godzilla when everyone else has abandoned them. The Japanese Government views them as expendable, and America is...well, America. They have no one to rely on but each other.

That is the core that makes Godzilla Minus One so deeply effective to me. It doubles down on my favorite genre of media: the power of the indomitable human spirit against the cruel indifference of the universe. Quite literally, by the way - I've never seen a Godzilla movie where Godzilla gave so little of a shit about the things and people he crushed. He's not evil, he's not actively malicious - you are simply in his way, and it's pretty terrifying.

I honestly have zero notes about this film. It is perfectly executed from beginning to end. Paced effectively, shot beautifuly, and brought together with an emotionally satisfying climax. I mean that second point by the way - Godzilla is rendered magnificantly, in such a way that he looks both like he's pure-CGI, but also still like he's being manipulated by a person in a rubber suit. It's SO COOL.

That's all I've got. Just go watch it. I honestly don't think you'll be disappointed, even if you're not a big Godzilla fan. It's truly that good.