Godzilla has a long, rich history in film, appearing in dozens of movies and earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The latest flick starring the giant lizard, Godzilla Minus One is said to be one of the best in quite some time. With the amount of Godzilla movies out there, that’s saying a lot. Does Godzilla Minus One truly reach those gargantuan heights, or is it a complete bomb? Let’s dive into this latest installment to find out.

The Good

The Godzilla movies are no stranger to using stories about giant monsters, action, and destruction to make important points and cover thought-provoking themes. Godzilla Minus One is no different. In fact, it may even be one of the most clever. Godzilla and the destruction he causes serves as a great allegory for the nuclear weapons that were used on Japan in the 1940s. It recreates the devastation and the reactions to it.

Another theme that’s wonderfully portrayed is the importance of life. Koichi being shamed for not doing his duty as a kamikaze pilot and eventually even saying it’s odd that part of him wants to live shows how much the characters initially didn’t value life, but eventually learned how wrong they were. There’s a shot where Koichi tilts his plane and overlooks a peaceful farming village that’s in Godzilla’s path of destruction, showing that this peace and these lives are worth protecting. When Godzilla eventually falls, the human characters even salute him, recognizing him as a living being. It’s honestly a rather beautiful message.

Something else seen throughout the film is the characters learning to stand up against their own government. Their leaders wanted them to die for them and lied to them about Godzilla’s existence. They didn’t care about them. The citizens take matters in their own hands, encouraging the audience to always stand up for what’s right. It’s rather impressive that this movie accomplishes all this without the story feeling too congested.

It’s hard not to truly feel for the human characters and their lives throughout the story. The audience actually wants to see them succeed and receive a happy ending. This is rare for kaiju movies, as they often make one want to ignore the human characters in favor of the giant monster mayhem. Here, the humans are interesting, fleshed out, and relatable. They add a lot of grounded emotion to the plot.

A topic that’s always discussed whenever a new Godzilla flick is released is Godzilla’s design, and here, it’s especially great. It’s probably one of the best Godzilla designs ever. He’s absolutely terrifying and looks completely real. His scale textures look as though you could feel exactly how rough they are. The most interesting detail is that he resembles the posture of the original rubber suit while being CGI animated, mixing together previous techniques for his design.

Godzilla’s known to wreck buildings and wreak havoc. It’s fun watching him topple buildings and blast cities away with his atomic breath. Here, though, the destruction is really felt. The audience feels how devastating it all is. It goes without saying that people get squashed as Godzilla stomps around, but it’s actually seen here. The amount of bodies seen under his giant feet is nothing short of disastrous. It makes the monster feel scarier and adds much more weight to the story.

There are plenty of shots throughout the film that are absolutely jaw-dropping. Whether it’s Godzilla’s huge mug emerging from the ocean to chase a tiny boat or him stepping from between buildings or, as pointed out earlier, Koichi peering over the farming village from his plane, most shots either put the audience on the edge of their seats or make them feel the emotion of the characters. This is masterful directing.

The Bad

There’s a point in the movie in which Noriko pushes Koichi into an alley to protect him from one of Godzilla’s atomic blasts, causing her to get caught in the destruction. She totally could have tackled him into that alley or pulled him along with her behind the cover. This way, she wouldn’t have been hurt. It makes sense for her to be for the rest of the story to play out the way that it did, but there could have been more of a reason for her to not make it behind the cover with Koichi.

Conclusion

Not only is Godzilla Minus One one of the better Godzilla movies, but it’s an especially incredible film overall. It’s emotional, smart, thought-provoking, and action-packed. It’s outstanding in every sense of the word. Long-time Godzilla fans and those who have never seen a single film in the franchise will undoubtedly enjoy this movie.

Rating: 10/10