'Godzilla Minus One' Review: Prepare To Jump Out Of Your Seat
Happy birthday, Godzilla! You are 70 this year, and you are very beautiful. Plus it's bigger, sharper and scarier than ever. A guy in a cheap rubber suit plays you in the original 1954 Godzilla playing a cheap miniature set from Tokyo. Now in Godzilla Minus One you are a digital marvel. You will attract everyone's attention.
Oscar certainly thinks so! Academy voters, impressed by the magic you produced on a limited budget of $15 million, nominated you for Best Visual Effects, along with the Mission: Impossible and Guardians of the Galaxy sequels, which cost 20 times more.
Do not take it wrong. My love for you will never die. But after your 38th screen appearance, a series of minor sequels, prequels, and over-the-top Hollywood imitations, you finally have a script with the depth to match your enigma, not to mention the heart-pounding.
Returning to theaters this week in gorgeous black-and-white after a color showing in December, Godzilla Minus One gives us the monochrome original from Japan's Toho Studios without the rough English dub. But this time, nuclear radiation has expanded the kaiju (monsters) to enormous size. And weapons are useless because these kaiju can be resurrected.
Godzilla Minus One refers to war-torn Japan having been reduced to zero in the world's power grid, and Godzilla's return takes it to an even worse level. Japanese people suffering from PTSD are trying to reinvent themselves, but the specter of extinction remains, in the form of Godzilla. And make no mistake, the new effects are beyond your wildest imagination. Zilla even ate a commuter train to welcome the latest Mission: Impossible.
Written and directed by the talented Takashi Yamazaki, who was also responsible for the Oscar-winning visual effects, the new Godzilla, devoid of color, is immersive. Do you remember those Godzilla movies where you cared about the human characters? Of course not, but now you will.
It begins with Koichi (the great Ryunosuke Kamiki), an inexperienced kamikaze pilot, who lands on a remote island to repair his plane. Or is he a coward looking for a place to hide? First, Koichi and his mechanic Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki) must face Godzilla's impressive opening attack. Even so, Koichi freezes when his task is to attack a monster or die trying.
After the war, Koichi, feeling survivor's guilt, looks for civilian work in Tokyo. He also meets Noriko (Minami Hamabe), a selfless young woman who cares for Akiko, a beautiful orphan girl. There was no love story at first until they became a family. Thank you to this film for taking the time to show the rough adjustments necessary for a country facing defeat in war.
It's only later, when Koichi gets a job as a minesweeper under Captain Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki) and a group of good war veterans, that Godzilla inevitably reappears. Get ready to jump out of your seat when the kaiju awakens.
US nuclear tests in the region only made Godzilla bigger and badder than ever. The plot to kill the creature for good (I don't think so) involves balloons, freon, a fleet of tugboats, and Koichi in a pilot's kit. No spoilers, but you should know that Godzilla is the best. The star was reborn in Godzilla Minus Zero.
