'Godzilla Minus One' Absolutely Rocked And May Very Well Go Down As The Best Godzilla Movie Ever
Stewart Cook. Getty Images.It's a great time to be a fan of Godzilla. Between the American MonsterVerse movie franchise, the recently released Apple TV series, and now Godzilla Minus One there's loads of premier Zilla content to feast your eyes on like never before. I'm fully nerding out and feel like a kid again.
Now going into the United States' debut of 'Godzilla Minus One' there was quite a bit of positive buzz coming over from Japan since they had their release weeks prior. While not an end all be all by any means, the Rotten Tomatoes score was 97% with audience at 98%. Gives you a good idea you're not walking into utter dogshit. Pretty much every review was over the moon, but I tried to go in with a fair, open mind either way.
After seeing it yesterday? Yeah, it was that good. Make no mistake about it, this movie fucking ruled. Toho nailed this in every way. It's everything you could ever want from a Godzilla blockbuster.
Very light spoiler warning. I really don't think I wrote anything that gives away much, but if you really want to go in blind then ignore obviously.
Let's start with the big guy because that's what we're really here for, right? Now I'll realistically be a fan of any Godzilla movie you throw in front of me. Hell, even the Matthew Broderick one is a guilty pleasure of mine even though he's really just a big dinosaur roaming around Manhattan. There is a bit of the American hero theme forced into the Legendary Pictures edition. He's always gotta save the day. He's misunderstood. He's here to protect the world yadda yadda yadda. Still makes for an entertaining, life-escaping few hours, but there's nothing quite like a loose cannon Godzilla who wants the world to burn. Toho gave us just that.
Their monster is a symbol of destruction. Godzilla is menacing, full of blind rage, designed for death, and unwilling to stop until everyone and everything has been decimated. This monster is the villain and it's awesome. A LOT of people die in this movie.
For a movie on a $15M-$20M budget I thought the special effects were incredible. Shin Godzilla gets so much love and I honestly don't get it. I know their whole gag is to show how Godzilla is emotionless and cold, but their monster is so lifeless it takes away from the movie for me. He's too goofy and honestly comes off as lazy. It really takes away from the whole movie for me. People are going to hate that take, but that's just my opinion. Give me a menacing, realistic Godzilla like this any day of the week.
At times I felt like I was watching a hybrid Jaws-Dunkirk movie and that's not a bad thing at all. The first ocean battle brings on an aspect of suspense you don't really ever see in any of the MonsterVerse depictions.
The opening scene on the beach in the dark? Actually kinda scary. Caught me off guard to be honest.
Godzilla's roar was top notch as well. This is a silent gif, but he's roaring.
Here's some sound
And the atomic breath? Well it actually caused a nuclear fucking bomb…multiple times. The charging up of his spikes is a nice wrinkle. Also the black rain is a cool ode to what really happened after the nuke fell back then.
Again, this is a $15M-$20M movie. Do you know how much shitty superhero content that's been shoved down our throats over the last four years? The Marvels had a $200M+ budget! Every She-Hulk episode cost $25M to make. It's a disgrace when you see what is being made here. I hate to bring up baseball but it's like seeing the roster Brian Cashman constructs with the Yankees' budget, meanwhile the Rays win 99 games with a few singles in their wallet to spend on payroll.
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Ken Jac was quick to point out to me that part of the reason for the low budget are the labor laws over in Japan restricting wages. Feel like I can't scream about budget without adding this in here.
Obviously that's a whole different conversation, but if they can make this movie on that dime then what the fuck are we doing with our products?
Okay back to the movie. A big issue the Legendary Pictures version has is forcing the human characters on us who we really don't care about. My big issue with the 2014 movie is how much they intentionally cut away from Godzilla moments for no reason at all. The human story in this one is gravitating and something you want to pay attention to. You could take out Godzilla from the movie and it'd still be worth the watch. Now I'd never do such a thing, so we'll never speak of that again, but you see my point.
The whole survivor's guilt from the kamikaze pilot is fascinating. Everyone's life just got completely turned upside down and then here comes this raging monster to really ruin everyone's day even more. Following it all together is a great watch. It never really loses the plot nor gets too carried away with either the monster or humans. The balance is perfect and the pace flows in a cool two hours. Even my mom, who falls asleep during any movie we watch together, managed to stay awake the whole time. Yes, I went with my mom to see a Godzilla movie, we've watched them all together since I was born. She's the best.
I'm going to do that thing right now where I forget every movie that came out this year, but I think 'Godzilla Minus One' should get nominated for an Oscar. It's that good. And don't be scared away by the full Japanese audio/English subtitles, you'll still be able to enjoy the movie no problem. Will that be a big reason the box office numbers are low here? No question, but I'm telling you it doesn't make a difference.
TLDR: This movie is great. The visuals are tremendous, the sound is blaring, the characters are worth caring for, Godzilla himself is scary in the best way, and the period piece storyline really brings it all together. Do yourself a favor and go watch this.
Full trailer here