Godzilla Minus One: Movie Review

Cast: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka
Director: Takashi Yamazaki

Stripped of its continuity to the Godzilla universe despite being the 33rd entrant in the monster series, Godzilla Minus One rises from the depths to be one of the best films of 2023 - even though it has a giant monster in it.

As the end of the second World War nears, it's the story of failed kamikaze pilot Shikishima (Kamiki) who witnesses a Godzilla attack when he's forced to put his plane down. Barely surviving the slaughter, Shikishima heads back home only to find his village destroyed in the war bombings and his family dead.

When he stumbles across Noriko (Hamabe) who's literally been left holding a baby, he unwillingly takes her in to what's left of his house. Taking a job to feed them, Shikishima gets a job on the sea, destroying landmines left as part of the war effort - but he finds his life threatened again by Godzilla's attacks...

Godzilla Minus One is a rousing spectacle that's raw and emotional as it casts its eye over a nation trying to recover from war, and the human cost of those caught in its grasp.

On its surface level, it's a deeply engaging emotional tale that also has a creature wreaking some unbelievable destruction in a post war world. But scratch beneath that, and you'll find a tale that really uses Godzilla as a metaphor for depression and the monsters within the mind as it continues to play out.

Throw in a side thread about the Government of the time letting down its people and the uprising of the common man amid dissent, and there's a lot more in director Takashi Yamazaki's monster movie.

But lest you become subsumed with the script's undercurrents and themes, Yamazaki also throws in some incredibly taut and tense action that showcases the creature at its absolute baddest. While in truth, the land attacks suffer from some less than stellar monster FX, the portions on the sea excel, recalling the primal fear of Jaws and the horrors of the deep.

Add into the mix a stirring soundtrack that incorporates Godzilla's original music and a marching theme that makes you want to get out of your seat, and Godzilla Minus One is one of the biggest and most welcome surprises of a somewhat less than stellar cinematic year.