Review of 'Godzilla Minus One ("Gojira -1.0")'

Near the end of World War II a kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima lands on Odo Island feigning technical issues but in reality too afraid to carry out his duty. That night Godzilla attacks the island killing all but Koichi and lead mechanic Tachibana who resents Koichi for not only failing to fulfil his duty as a kamikaze but also for not using his plane to attack Godzilla. Returning to a Tokyo destroyed by bombing, Koichi supports a woman Noriko Oishi and an orphaned baby Akiko. Koichi volunteers with the military and is assigned to a minesweeper. With the help of the crew they attempt to kill Godzilla using a mine but this fails. Later, Godzilla attacks Ginza in Tokyo where Noriko works but she is rescued by Koichi. When a land attack against Godzilla fails with Godzilla reducing much of Ginza to ash, they come up with a plan to destroy Godzilla once and for all but Koichi with the help of Tachibana has other plans to attack Godzilla and restore his honour.

I very much wanted to see this is the cinema but it only showed locally for all of a week so I missed it (no huge loss, the cinema is not all that great and this deserves to be seen on a giant, excellent quality screen). When I was in Japan recently it was not yet released on video so I had to resort to watching it on Netflix when it became available (with little fanfare, it has to be said…a huge shame).

This is a truly Japanese take on the Godzilla mythos focusing on their deeply held belief in honour and selflessness. It also looks absolutely amazing with incredibly realistic effects, though tinged with the “man in a suit” traditional look for Godzilla, with a story that is equally well thought out. Refreshingly following some recent Godzilla films, there is no doubt here who the evil one is here with the film focusing on the battle to destroy Godzilla. The ending is satisfying with the door left obviously ajar in a post-credit sequence for a follow-up which I, for one, will very much look forward to seeing. There is a nice, albeit fairly obvious, twist to the ending as well that neatly draws to a conclusion Koichi's story.

The acting is spot on with compelling characters in Koichi and Noriko who have a rather complex, even to their Japanese friends, platonic relationship while both caring for a child that is not their own. Koichi spends most of the film attempting to make up his loss of honour as a kamikaze pilot, forever navel gazing which could get tedious but here is handled sensitively and subtly. Having said that, it is a bit one dimensional and Koichi is a bit too much of the “heroine in distress” architype for the relationship to be completely believable but it is remarkable that the filmmakers manage to stay away from the obvious romantic possibilities between the two.

An amazing looking film with a different and perhaps more real take on the Godzilla story that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen you can find…

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2024-06-30

Directed by: Takashi Yamazaki

Studio: Robot Communications

Year: 2023

Length: 124 minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23289160/

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