I’ve been a Godzilla fan since the first time I saw the giant monster grace the big screen at my local theater in 1998.
However, the overall character and its franchise have been in production since 1954 and are even recognized by the Guinness World Records as the “longest continuously running film franchise” despite several production hiatuses.
Still, I’m down for giant monsters wreaking havoc and devastating anything and everything in sight.
I do have to preface this by letting you know that the film is in its native Japanese spoken language format with English subtitles only – just so you know!
I’m used to watching shows and movies in English even with subtitles activated, so, it wasn’t much of an issue for me.
The other part I enjoyed was how much more effort the design team put into making Godzilla more terrifying instead of just relying on a person in a monster suit like other previous iterations.
Godzilla Minus One is a 2023 Japanese kaiju film directed, written, and with visual effects by Takashi Yamazaki.
Just as a refresher kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters.
Produced by Toho Studios and Robot Communications and distributed by Toho, it is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise, Toho’s 33rd Godzilla film, and the fifth film in the franchise’s Reiwa era.
anosuke Sasaki.
The movie clocks in at 125 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for creature violence and action.
In 1945, near the end of World War II, kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Kamiki) feigns technical issues with his plane and lands on Odo Island.
Lead mechanic Tachibana (Aoki) implies that Shikishima fled from his duty.
That night, a dinosaur-like creature dubbed Godzilla by locals, attacks.
Shikishima gets in his plane but cannot shoot the monster and is knocked unconscious after his plane is destroyed.
He wakes up to learn that Tachibana is the only survivor, who blames Shikishima for failing to act.
In 1946, Shikishima returned home to find his parents were killed in the bombing of Tokyo.
Plagued by survivor’s guilt, he works as a minesweeper and begins supporting Noriko Ōishi (Hamabe), whose parents also died in the bombing and orphaned baby Akiko.
Later that year, Godzilla was mutated and enlarged by the United States’ nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll; it destroyed several U.S. warships before heading for Japan.
The U.S. refused help, owing to tensions with the Soviet Union, but General Douglas MacArthur sent decommissioned Imperial Japanese Navy vessels.
In May 1947, Shikishima and his minesweeper crew are tasked with stopping Godzilla’s approach to Japan, in reality stalling for time for larger vessels to arrive.
They release a mine into Godzilla’s mouth and detonate it, doing significant damage, but it quickly regenerates.
The heavy cruiser Takao then arrives and engages Godzilla but is subsequently destroyed when Godzilla unleashes its atomic “heat ray”.
After returning to Tokyo, Shikishima tells Noriko about the attack and his earlier encounter with Godzilla.
Days later Godzilla makes landfall in Japan and begins attacking Ginza, where Noriko works.
Besides ridiculous destruction, Godzilla manages to also help galvanize Shikishima into deciding what’s important in his life.
Overall, this Godzilla film provides a more thought-provoking and human-centric storyline than I’ve seen in the past and it’s worth watching.
But, this also isn’t the last we’ll see of the kaiju and in true Godzilla form, we’re just waiting for the next installation in the franchise.
