It’s not often that we see Hollywood filmmakers get shown up in the way they are by Toho right now. Godzilla Minus One was a masterpiece, and I don’t say that lightly. It was so much more than just a movie for fans of kaiju flicks; it had real emotional heft and VFX so stellar it won an Academy Award for them. The bar that writer/director Takashi Yamazaki set is so high, you could be forgiven for thinking Godzilla Minus Zero would fall well short. Instead, it’s another incredible achievement on par with its predecessor on nearly every level.
As I’ve said before, I watched Godzilla movies occasionally growing up but never thought much about them. The recent MonsterVerse movies have been solid blockbusters, but when reviews were through the roof for Godzilla Minus One, it took me a while to go see for myself, and it was far and away the best monster movie of that year. Now that title passes to Godzilla Minus Zero, which introduces another iconic kaiju, King Ghidorah, in an action-packed sequel that blows other blockbusters out of the water.
Many of the familiar players from the previous movie return, including heroic kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), who has settled into a quiet life with his new wife, Noriko (Minami Hamabe), and their adopted daughter Akiko (Sae Nagatani), two years after he destroyed Godzilla and left its remains on the sea floor. When the threat of Ghidorah emerges, Shikishima is loath to sit on the sidelines, even with his obligations to the family. But when Noriko, who has miraculously recovered from a Godzilla attack, is dragged into the conflict due to her previous exposure to the creature, Shikishima is forced back into the action.
An increased role went to the guilt-ridden professor Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), who now runs a disaster response force similar to Monarch of the MonsterVerse movies. Their real job is managing monster attacks, and the film literally begins with Ghidorah’s assault on a Japanese village, using powers they’ve never seen before: massive heat rays and a gravity well that slams buildings and people from the sky. The Americans, rightfully viewed with skepticism, have offered up planes to assist in the fight, but it’ll be Japanese pilots being used as “guinea pigs”; just another consequence of the war.
While the visuals were always going to be stunning, Yamazaki upped the ante by shooting in IMAX. The action sequences are simply breathtaking, and so much more than slugfests between Ghidorah and Godzilla, who you’ll be shocked to learn has survived his apparent death. There’s a ton happening all at once, with Yamazaki coordinating multiple aspects of each battle: squadrons of fighter planes moving in to attack, ships launching missiles from the seas, and the human contingent setting traps while avoiding the fallout. The editing is brisk but clean, with every set piece easy to follow despite the chaos.
While I wouldn’t say the character work is quite on par with its predecessor, Godzilla Minus Zero still has you invested wholeheartedly in the people and their hopes, dreams, and motivations. The most poignant new addition is the vengeful Kanji Murakami (Min Tanaka), who survived the horrors of Hiroshima and sees Godzilla as a potential tool for vengeance against the Americans. There’s also meteorologist Makoto Aoyama (Masami Nagasawa), who carries a similar burden of guilt as Noda and bonds with him as a result. Shikishima and Noriko are a family now, with Akiko’s history of abandonment front and center every time they put themselves in danger.
Sure, some of the human drama is cheesy and over-the-top in its sentimentality, but that’s the way Godzilla movies are. Yamazaki’s movies wouldn’t be the same without them, and they are as crucial, if not more so, than the monsters themselves. Godzilla Minus Zero is another incredible effort that demands to be seen in IMAX. Yamazaki has taken this franchise to a higher level, and while I’m dying to see what he can do outside of it, I also want him to keep taking Godzilla to new heights.
Godzilla Minus Zero opens in theaters and IMAX on November 6th.
