Godzilla Minus One challenges as the best film of the storied kaiju franchise. Writer/director Takashi Yamazaki delivers a monster attack masterpiece that transcends the genre with powerfully emotional themes. A psychologically wounded protagonist returns to a devastated Japan after the horrors of World War II. Survivors cling to life in the ruins while trying to make sense of their country’s heinous actions. This reckoning of sins unleashes a new terror emboldened by the dawn of the nuclear age. Heroes rise to the occasion in thrilling defiance of seemingly insurmountable odds. They discover an embrace of community that shines a light towards a hopeful future.
In 1945, kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) lands his fighter at a remote naval station on Odo Island. Sōsaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki), the lead mechanic, can find nothing wrong with the plane. A tortured Shikishima admits to losing his nerve. He couldn’t take his own life as a weapon of war. Tachibana doesn’t admonish his failure as their conversation is interrupted by a strange sight on the beach. Fish bubble to the surface as something ominously swims towards them.
Weeks later, a shaken Shikishima returns to his shambled home in Tokyo. His neighbor, Sumiko (Sakura Ando), curses him for cowardice when he asks about his parents. They’re dead, including her children. She has nothing left but despair. Shikishima roams the streets in a daze until a startling twist of fate. Noriko (Minami Hamabe) thrusts an infant into his arms as she’s being chased. The bewildered Shikishima holds the baby girl for hours. He finally gets up to move as Noriko comes forward. She had been watching the whole time. Why did he not abandon the child?
Death Approaches
Release Date December 1, 2023
Director Takashi Yamazaki
Cast Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Takayuki Yamada, Sakura Andou
Main Genre Action
A year later, Shikishima, Noriko, and little Akiko have stayed together, their fledgling family unit a result of pure circumstance. Noriko wonders why Shikishima screams at night. What burden does he bear? Shikishima refuses to admit his shame or the monstrous creature that reinforced it. He decides to accept a dangerous job. Akiko will die of malnutrition otherwise. His life means nothing.
The Shinsei Maru has been contracted to clear hundreds of ocean mines. The wooden ship won’t attract magnetic bombs. Captain Yōji Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki), Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), a former weapons specialist, and the eager Shirō Mizushima (Yuki Yamada) are happy to have an ace pilot aboard. Shikishima quickly proves his worth as a gunner. But his hopes for some semblance of peace are dashed when deep sea fish appear in the water around the boat.
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Godzilla Minus One keeps the classic origin story but takes the narrative in a completely unexpected direction. Shikishima, played superbly by Kamiki in a gut-wrenching performance, is crippled by PTSD. Noriko asks, “When will your war end?” He cannot move on from his tortured past, but unintentionally inspires others by acts of kindness. Everyone he encounters can see a good man underneath the wreckage. Captain Akitsu and Noda repeatedly try to motivate their dear friend. He has been given a chance with a good woman and a precious child. The demons that haunt him must be vanquished. Shikishima’s lack of self-worth threatens a flicker of happiness. He finally understands that incredible value as another tragedy looms.
Run Noriko!
Yamazaki, a lauded filmmaker with multiple Japanese Academy Awards nominations, frames Godzilla Minus One in the right context. Scenes of hungry, battered people walking wide-eyed around a destroyed Tokyo reflect somber truths. An awful price has been paid for their country’s flawed ambitions and the Americans’ atom bombs. Noda curses those that led them to doom in a searing monologue. Their lives are not worthless. They will no longer be sent to the slaughter. The battle against Godzilla requires a unity of purpose beyond ideology and nationalism. A new culture must be created to cherish peace.
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The film’s superb dramatic arc means nothing if the monster element isn’t absolutely terrifying. Godzilla is an ass-kicking hurricane of epic destruction. The snarling beast chomps the hapless fleeing, and then flings their severed bodies wildly in the air. Crowds are stomped to a pulp as buildings crumble under unstoppable wrath. Its nuclear-fueled heat ray creates a mushroom cloud blast that incinerates and literally blows away anything still standing in a stupefying shockwave. It’s undeniable that Godzilla has never been more frightening and ferocious. Fans are going to lose their minds.
Godzilla Minus One obliterates expectations. There’s nothing campy, frivolous, or contrived here. You genuinely care for the engaging ensemble as they face annihilation from an indiscriminate killer. Cheers and tears abound in a riveting cinematic experience. Hollywood, take note. Yamazaki teaches a masterclass in blockbuster filmmaking.
Godzilla Minus One is a production of Toho Studios and Robot Communications Inc. The film was screened in New York at a special presentation by the Japan Society. Godzilla Minus One will be released theatrically in the US and Canada on December 1st from Toho Studios. You can watch a trailer below.
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