STORY
When Japan is close to the Second World War, a giant reptilian monster shows up on one of the islands. Shikishima, a former kamikaze pilot, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the horrors of the bloodshed it created that day. That giant monster is called Godzilla.
REVIEW
Godzilla Minus One is the first live-action Godzilla film from Japanese production and distribution company Toho since Shin Godzilla in 2016 and thirty-third overall. And has no connection with the Monsterverse of the Legendary Pictures that mostly involves Godzilla and Kong.
Although, Monsterverse has done justice and we finally got to see the frightening existence of Godzilla in the most suitable setup of the universe. But I think this was about time that Godzilla must had an equally competitive narration and setting in its Japanese roots. But golly! Godzilla Minus One made a Godzilla film much better than the Monsterverse.
No wonder how spectacular are visual effects in Monsterverse but I have been criticizing this universe for years that the human factor of this universe has always looked dragged in such an amazing Kaiju-action showdown. Monsterverse is now five films and ten years old but the human writing still has not grabbed or captivated any interest. The human angle in this universe has been annoying.
But Godzilla Minus One has a potential story where Godzilla itself is second to humans. This is about an already struggling and suffering post-World War Japan getting further nuked by this scary colossus. The Japanese are not ready for this kind of wrath and the scientists and military are jointly devising an ultimate plan to bring it down. And then there is poor Shikishima who already was suffering from PTSD given by Godzilla and now has distanced his close company Noriko from him by the atomic breath.
I say close company for Noriko because in all honesty, her relation with Shikishima was confusing. They were neither friends nor developed any romanticism. I think with so much destruction on their world to suffer, they were the need of the hour for each other and held tremendous respect. But one of the rare minuses of the film is that Noriko survived with injuries on her right eye and the right arm. How is that even possible? But wait. What is that black thing revealing on her neck?
The biggest accomplishment of Godzilla Minus One is winning the Oscar for the Best Visual Effects becoming the first Japanese film to win this particular award and the first Godzilla film ever to win an Oscar. Imagine a five-film Monsterverse not winning in ten years but the Japanese team of VFX winning it one go. You can realize how superior was the work on Godzilla and the entire visual creation that included blasts and destructions.
This Godzilla looks more terrific and terrifying than the one in America. Observe the work on the lightning spikes and when the flesh of Godzilla regenerates. The only plus of the American Godzilla over the Japanese one is that the former easily has the best roar in the films than the latter.
CLOSING REMARKS
I think Godzilla Minus One is an innovative arc of storytelling where a gripping emotional storyline is set in a war-torn Japan and has a strong reliability on a very sound visual effects based on a fiction, a legend, a monster. The film has deep human affection, a trauma of war and a larger-than-life shocking incident. I do not believe a monster story has ever been taken so seriously with a quality filmmaking.
Remember, this is a Japanese monster film that reached the global audience especially the West. The popularity of the film was enormous. And Japan nailed that in a comparatively extremely low budget for a VFX-bound action film. It is a win for the monstertainment cinema and the audience.
RATING 8.7/10
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Sami Naik | Film Critic 