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Strong Personalities and Classical Thrills Elevate Godzilla Minus One


I didn’t realize until I was in the theatre that we are inching towards the 70th anniversary of one of the most influential movies of all-time; begetter of the longest-sustained cinematic franchise as well. Next year, Godzilla reaches that milestone, and for those like me who haven’t been followers of the series, it’s easy to take for granted how ubiquitous it has remained for seven decades. I was keenly aware that, but for that original movie, I’d never seen another Japanese Godzilla film -until word-of-mouth inspired me to check out this one: the 37th entry in the franchise, yet one not bound in any way to continuity or history. In fact it seems simply interested in being a new take, one that combines influence from previous Godzilla films with that of classic Hollywood blockbusters.
And Godzilla Minus One, written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, really shows up both these classes as an immensely fun and thrilling monster movie. It both brings a modern sophistication in visual effects to a franchise that, let’s be honest, hasn’t had a great track record in that department, while also again demonstrating the capacity of other countries to outdo U.S. blockbusters in the realm of solidly constructed stakes and original spectacle. Certainly none of Hollywood’s Godzilla movies can compare.
Appearing to be a reboot of the franchise, Godzilla Minus One opens at the end of the Pacific War where the behemoth monster attacks a small military base at Odo island. An AWOL kamikaze pilot Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) manages to escape, returning to his home in shame and trauma to find that his village has been turned into a slum. Yet over the next few years he helps support a young woman Noriko (Minami Hamabe) who lost her family, and an unrelated baby in the same circumstances, eventually joining a crew of minesweepers to make a living -in which capacity he comes across Godzilla again -further mutated by American nuclear tests, terrorizing both the Japanese mainland and its coast.
The most curious thing about this film is the intensity of focus on its human characters, and in particular a rather complex emotional arc for Shikishima. This is not a movie necessarily driven by its Godzilla attack scenes, and as in the best Godzilla movies, the creature functions as a stand-in for a variety of things -for Shikishima it represents his trauma and guilt, and until it dies he can never be free of those himself. But Shikishima is surrounded by a truly delightful collection of characters who both fill out the world and kind of overshadow him for their personalities. There’s the passionate military commander who mounts the climactic effort to kill Godzilla and the mechanic who also survived the initial attack and is the only person Shikishima trusts with his aircraft. It’s a delight to see Sakura Ando of Shoplifters as the neighbourly woman Sumiko who helps in the care of the baby. But the heart of the movie is honestly the ragtag team of minesweepers: the charismatic sailor captain Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki), the science-minded engineer Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), and the apprentice kid Shirō (Yuki Yamada). With Shikishima, they make for a very likeable and engaging team, working together and bouncing off each other quite well.
The scenes where the four go off on their job, and especially where they encounter Godzilla at sea, the aesthetics and archetypes can’t help but look incredibly familiar; and indeed Jaws was openly a major influence on Yamazaki here, both in its sense of tension and in its character dynamics represented so closely you can easily identify Quint (Akitsu), Hooper (Noda), and Brody (Shikishima). But it is a loving homage that re-contextualizes Godzilla in a very compelling way. And while Yamazaki plays with the Jaws set-up, there is no less spontaneity to the film’s first attack at sea -a marvellously thrilling sequence that feels way heavier than the similar sea-based confrontation from Godzilla vs. Kong at a fraction of the level of destruction.
Also a fraction of the budget, but Godzilla Minus One really epitomizes the less-is-more mentality. As impressive as the CGI effects work is for a Japanese Godzilla film, the creative ways they are used and used in moderation is part of the film’s appeal. Because the human characters are rightfully centred, it is their perspective that takes precedent; and so Godzilla doesn’t always have to fill the frame to inspire terror, such as in a great scene where the monster attacks a train, or when it’s chasing the boat merely its head and spikes visible above the water. And there are instances where you can make out that the meat and bones of this franchise -practical effects- are still being utilized; like the regenerative effect after Godzilla has been struck in the face or in simply the ground repercussions of its carnage. Godzilla’s heat ray is used sparingly as well, and quite cleverly at one point as a device to build incredible suspense.
The movie’s final act is pretty wild, even taking Godzilla out of the equation, as it depicts a kind of libertarian dream wherein an army of ex-military private citizens mobilizes to take down Godzilla off of a wily and highly elaborate plan by one former naval scientist. A lot of criticism, in the scene establishing this and elsewhere, is directed at the Japanese government for actions both during the war and in its aftermath. The prevailing character the movie casts on it is one of moral cowardice and incompetent bureaucracy. The U.S. features also as a minor antagonizing entity, having buffed up Godzilla through nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll, yet too concerned afterwards with Soviet tensions to interfere. Godzilla’s attack on Ginza also evokes the U.S.-Japan relationship as its heat ray on the city is illustrated as a nuclear blast. Ultimately the movie attempts to espouse a theme of power of the people -the Japanese more specifically- over the institutions that tore up their world; and yet the tools of those institutions are still utilized. Yamazaki cites Hayao Miyazaki of all people as an additional influence -and indeed there is a grain of something like The Wind Rises to be detected there. But ideologically it’s such a different beast altogether -one that makes for some fascinating insight.
Leaving aside a last-minute reveal that kind of stomps over one of the film’s biggest emotional beats and the very Hollywood-style sequel-baiting that it ends on, Godzilla Minus One is a highly fun and vigorous take on this historic monster, and the stories that can be told around it. I was shocked by how thrilling it was, how enjoyable the characters were, and generally how evenly structured the whole movie turned out. It could perhaps be accused of moderating itself to western tastes, but it does so in a way that actually feels fresh in this part of the world. And with a new American Godzilla movie on the horizon, as average-looking as can be, the distinctness of this film only stands in greater relief.

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