Ever since the original Godzilla in 1954, Toho Studio’s legendary beast as served a potent symbol for the trauma and confusion of modern war. There have been times the franchise has erred towards the goofy, to say the least. But as the international situation again seems to be deteriorating, once more the monster has returned, laden with serious emotional and thematic power. Godzilla Minus One is a monumental work within the history of Godzilla movies, positioning itself alongside the highly acclaimed Shin Godzilla as the best Godzilla movies since the original. Just as in the original classic, this film uses Godzilla as more than a mere monster of the week but as a powerful emblem of Japan’s historical trauma and societal disarray. This Godzilla delivers shock and awe.
The film starts with Koichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki, Spirited Away), a kamikaze pilot, landing his plane on Ido island in the dying days of WWII. Just as it seems that he’ll make it to the end of the war without witnessing slaughter, Godzilla emerges from the waters to wreak deadly havoc. Once the dust settles, our hero makes his way home to a Tokyo he can barely recognise. It looks like the kind of landscape that Godzilla would leave in his wake, but no – these are simply the ruins of the firebombing. The film then navigates Japan’s post-war era, as apocalyptic despair slowly turns to early reconstruction. exploring collective psyche of a nation grappling with the aftermath of conflict. It weaves the personal struggles of its characters into the broader societal quest for redemption, mirroring Japan’s journey towards self-redefinition amid historical turmoil. As Koichi attempts to build a new life for himself, with a home and even a family, still he is haunted by the spectre of war, personal failure, and possible return of Godzilla.
Godzilla Minus One is named after the state of Tokyo itself – reduced to zero, or nothingness, by the firebombing, the film is haunted by the possibility of Godzilla emerging more powerful than ever, to devastate it even further – to reduce it to “minus one.” The film harnesses Godzilla’s towering presence to symbolize the nation’s unresolved traumas, unresolved conflicts and societal confusion. Godzilla is a monstrous force, an embodiment of historical terror, forever threatening to emerge from the deep waters of the collective Japanese subconscious to lay waste wipe out any attempt at growth, love, or peace. Godzilla is the physical manifestation PTSD on a nationwide level.
Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, who also oversaw all the visual effects, this film delivers show-stopping CGI Sturm und Drang as Godzilla takes on machine gun fire, battles a WWII battleship, and rampages through downtown Ginza. Each time the bassy pulse of the classic Godzilla theme kicks in, the scaly figure emerges from the smoke and water and chaos rains down (in some cases, literally – the aftermath of one attack features a wave of black rain, evoking the horror of Hiroshima). Tormented by his failure as a Kamikaze pilot, Koichi sees an opportunity for possible redemption, if only he can get close enough to Godzilla to take him down in a fire of mutual destruction.
The film is not without its flaws. Ryunosuke’s lead performance is pretty flat, though the others around him largely make up for it, and some of the film’s thematic symbolism is a little over-egged. A post-credit scene should’ve been chopped, too. as it dulls the impact a little of what we’ve seen come before. But for all that this is a top-drawer Godzilla movie, a kaiju flick for the ages that channels the tonal gravitas of the best of its predecessors while venturing into the psychological landscapes of its characters and the nation they represent.
Godzilla Minus One earns its place as an eloquent, evocative, and thought-provoking addition to the world’s most famous kaji series.—an exploration of the lasting trauma of history on a nation’s psyche, and an action-packed spectacle that deserves to be seen in IMAX. Much as I love Barbie, maybe this is the true pairing for Oppenheimer than we needed.
Godzilla is in US cinemas on 1 Dec, and UK cinemas on 15 Dec.
Whitlock&Pope 