I’ll be honest; it’s been really hard for me to get back into Godzilla. The problem is that the American take on the king of all kaiju has been sorta…well, friendly? He doesn’t come across as the devastating force of nature that he did in those Japanese classics. Sure, he destroys a lot of stuff and can slug it out with King Kong, but ultimately you don’t fear Godzilla.
Well, that all changes in the utterly terrifying trailer for Godzilla Minus One, which Toho has dropped today. Writer / director Takashi Yamazaki’s take is a throwback to those kaiju classics which served as a metaphor for Japan’s post-war recovery after the atomic bombings. The film takes place in the fallout of WWII when a struggling recovery is made staggeringly worse by the arrival of Godzilla, stomping flat an already-devastated country.
I feel like this take on Godzilla is especially hard-hitting in the wake of Oppenheimer. In this trailer there’s a very clear emphasis on the visual devastation caused by nuclear attack, and that feels like a statement that is being made. Mainly, though, Godzilla looks like an absolute monster and not like he’s destined for a cool team-up movie crossover.
Godzilla Minus One opens here on December 1st, following a Japanese release on November 3rd.
