If there’s one word best suited to describe the King of the Monsters’ return to the big screen in 2023, it must be: biblical. Triumphant would do just as well, especially following the toxic rectal discharge of Legendary’s last two MonsterVerse movies.
Like all long-lasting cinematic icons, Godzilla has remained popular with audiences across the world for almost seventy years thanks to his adaptability. There isn’t another famous character who’s been successful as both the embodiment of utter destruction, and a child-friendly saviour of the world. Godzilla has frequently swung back and forth between these two extremes across the Shōwa (1954 to 1975), Heisei (1984 to 1995) and Millennium (1999 to 2004) eras, to say nothing of his appearances in various media forms outside Japan. My first exposure, which sparked a lifelong infatuation, was the merchandise for the 1998 Roland Emmerich remake and its underrated animated spin-off/sequel in 1999.
I think most kaiju fans would agree that Godzilla was at his best in the original 1954 Ishirō Honda classic. A symbol of the horrors of atomic warfare from a country that experienced it first-hand, Godzilla gave birth to the immensely popular daikaiju (giant strange beast) genre, followed by other popular series such as Gamera and Daimajin, and laying the foundations for tokusatsu shows like Ultraman. Gojira quickly found popularity in America with the 1956 localised version starring Raymond Burr. The King of the Monsters’ influence around the world is difficult to measure.
For Minus One, director Takashi Yamazaki has returned Godzilla to his roots, and in doing so has given us perhaps the most horrific version of the monster thus far. Taking place in the years immediately after the end of World War Two, the story is anchored to former-kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima, tormented by an incident on Odo Island which left him the sole survivor. More than anything else, Minus One is a film about survivor’s guilt. The original presented Japan as the crippled victim of the most devastating form of warfare, but Minus One frequently highlights Imperial Japan’s wasteful attitudes towards life, and misplaced sense of honour which led to the downfall and despair depicted in the film’s first third. Shikishima’s relationship with his adopted family, Noriko Ōishi and the orphaned baby Akiko, whom Noriko rescued makes for deeply moving human drama. The beating heart of Minus One is the theme of overcoming despair and embracing the value of life.
Godzilla appears relatively briefly in a film over two hours, but when he’s onscreen his presence is at once frightening, gripping, and harrowing. The sequence where he unleashes his atomic breath upon Tokyo hits like a freight train, to say nothing of its aftereffects. There’s no pleasure here in seeing model cities being trashed and set ablaze by giant rubber beasties. The destruction, at times, is downright distressing. Godzilla’s atomic breath is something fans look forward to seeing, but in my case, whenever the spinal fins began to glow their radioactive blue, I was filled with dread. No other Godzilla film has managed to make this ludicrous feature seem so terrifying.
Minus One’s deeper thematic concerns do not make this Godzilla film any less exciting than its predecessors. There are numerous nods back to the classic era. Godzilla’s distinctive roar is identical to that of his 1954 incarnation. The iconic theme by Akira Ifukube is there amongst the hauntingly grand music by Naoki Sato. A contender for Best Original Score surely. There’s a terrific nail-biter of a sea chase that pays deliberate homage to Jaws. The climactic battle with Godzilla eschews the typical throw-everything-at-him tactic usually employed by the military, and instead owes more to the emotionally charged finales one would associate with Christopher Nolan at his best. The design of the film’s eponymous character is a cross between the original 1954 costume and that used throughout the 1990s Heisei films.
A spectacular achievement, one of the best films of 2023. I would urge everyone to see it, even if kaiju cinema is not normally to your tastes.
5/5
