Godzilla Minus One, 2023.
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki.
Starring Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Sakura Andô, Munetaka Aoki, Kuranosuke Sasaki.
SYNOPSIS:
In post-WWII Japan, a new threat rises from the depths of the ocean as the aftermath of the atom bomb takes the form of a giant monster.
By this point there is no point in giving you a history lesson of the Godzilla franchise, as the giant atomic menace has been around in one form or another since the 1950s, and thanks to both Japanese and American film studios (and that children’s TV cartoon from the 1980s) that means there is a movie to suit everyone’s tastes, as long as you like giant reptilian monsters.
In recent times, everyone’s favourite radioactive beastie has been pitched against that other giant of classic monster movies, King Kong, in a series of increasingly silly CGI punch-ups and city-levelling battles which are quite fun to watch, but those are Warner Bros. blockbusters designed for spectacle and lacking anything more concrete once you get past the technical marvel. Japanese studio Toho returned to making live action Godzilla movies in 2016 with Shin Godzilla, a soft reboot of the series, but it is with Godzilla Minus One that the studio has gone back to the well and made a prequel that not only gives us some great kaiju action but also taps into the real-world horrors of WWII and the human element of all the destruction.
The central human character is Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a Japanese kamikaze pilot who lands at an island air base claiming his plane needs repairs, but chief mechanic Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki) deduces that Shikishima is trying to avoid fulfilling his duties as he cannot find anything wrong with the aircraft. That night, the island is attacked by a giant monster known as Godzilla, but when Tachibana orders Shikishima to use his plane and shoot the creature, the pilot freezes and Godzilla kills everyone on the island except for Tachibana and Shikishima.
After the war is over, Shikishima hooks up with a young woman named Noriko Oishi (Minami Hamabe), who is looking after an orphaned baby. Shikishima takes a job destroying unexploded sea mines to support his new adopted family, but these explosions – along with US nuclear testing in the area – bring a freshly- radiated Godzilla back to the surface where he destroys a naval ship. Fast-forward in time and the frequent explosions bring the monster back several times, culminating in a rampage across Tokyo where Godzilla kills tens of thousands of people. Believing Noriko to be among the dead, Shikishima vows revenge and steps up to take on the might of Godzilla.
So yes, there is a heart to Godzilla Minus One as we follow Shikishima and his quest to not be a coward in the face of adversity, and for the most part it is engaging as you get to see Shikishima become the ‘hero’ that he couldn’t be for his government in the war. The connection between him and Noriko is a surprisingly tender one, as they are portrayed more as two people who connected in the tragedy of the war rather than with an instant physical attraction, and when Noriko goes away to Tokyo to get a job you just know where the plot is going, but that doesn’t make it less heartbreaking when Godzilla heads that way and destroys the Ginza district of the city, where Noriko now works.
And as for the action? 1940s Japan is recreated superbly, convincingly placing us in that post-WWII world where civilisation needs to rebuild, and people look for hope. However, it is the titular Godzilla we have come to see and he looks amazing, both in the detail and movement of the CGI, and in the fact that this is not the cuddly creature who saves the world by taking out other giant mutants, but instead Toho have made him fearsome again, giving him a sense of menace that the US movies seems to lack. The arial battles are amazing to watch as the cameras swoop alongside the planes, putting you in the heart of the action as Godzilla takes on allcomers. Yes, it is CGI but this is CGI done properly, as not once do you consider Godzilla to not actually be there, such is the quality of the image.
An image, it must be said, that looks nothing short of spectacular in 4K UHD, with every scale and neon blue radioactive pulse on Godzilla looking as crisp and clear as if he were in the room with you. Crank up the thunderous Dolby Atmos audio (Japanese language only – the English dub is in TrueHD 5.1, which is still impressive, but you do have to poke up with the dodgy dubbing) and you have a Godzilla movie that really uses all of your home entertainment technology to the full, creating a truly cinematic experience for a movie whose only real downside is that the pace drops every now and then to allow for some more character development, which isn’t really much of a downside if you go into it knowing that this is not a Hollywood popcorn crowd-pleaser, full of gorgeous A-listers spewing hokey dialogue. Instead, thanks to its balance of humanity, socio-political commentary and monster-based action, this is one of the best Godzilla movies ever made. Take note, Hollywood.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
