Bottom Line
First, some background on Godzilla is useful to know before reading this review.
Godzilla (Japanese: ゴジラ, Hepburn: Gojira, /ɡɒdˈzɪlə/; [ɡoꜜ(d)ʑiɾa] ⓘ) is a fictional monster, or kaiju, that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and cowritten by Ishirō Honda.[2] The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films produced by Toho Co., Ltd., five American films, and numerous video games, novels, comic books, and television shows. Godzilla has been dubbed the King of the Monsters, an epithet first used in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), the American localization of the 1954 film.
Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0マイナスワン, Gojira Mainasu Wan) is a 2023 Japanese epic[a] kaiju film written, directed, and with visual effects by Takashi Yamazaki. Produced by Toho Studios and Robot Communications and distributed by Toho,[1] it is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise, Toho's 33rd Godzilla film, and the fifth film in the franchise's Reiwa era.[b] The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando and Kuranosuke Sasaki.
I recently watched “Godzilla Minus One” on Netflix and was attracted to it by the special effects in the teaser preview as well as by the odd sounding title. I have not watched any of the original Japanese Godzilla films but have seen scenes from those films, and always thought of Godzilla and the monstrous kaiju he fought as goofy. That view started to shift when Hollywood started making Godzilla films with a big budget and amazing special effects. I was particularly blown away by Gareth Edwards’ “Godzilla” (2014) which made these kaiju real and gave them a legitimate explanation in the Earth’s ecosystem and history.
Seeing the original Japanese portrayal of the King of the Monsters in “Minus One” was refreshing. The film is set right after the Japanese surrender in World War II and their retreat from the islands in the South Pacific. There we first encounter a smaller looking Godzilla attacking a group of Japanese soldiers. He is a little larger than a T-Rex. A Kamikaze pilot who had just arrived there for a mission gets in his plane to try and shoot Godzilla but loses his nerve and all of the soldiers except their commander are brutally killed. The pilot feels a deep sense of shame.
The rest of the story follows the young pilot’s road to redemption as he tries to rebuild his life along with the rest of the Japanese people in the aftermath of the War. The Japanese have suffered greatly and many are living in squalor with barely anything to eat.
Godzilla resurfaces from the depths of the ocean attacking Japanese ships which are trying to detonate the mines that they left around the islands of Japan. He has grown much larger and now has the power of a radiation ray that emanates from his mouth. This is due to the radiation from the US atomic bombs that were used to end the war with the Japanese. There is no explanation for why he attacks the Japanese ships and we are left to form our own conclusions. Perhaps, it is for retribution for the Japanese people’s part in the War.
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