Review: Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Takashi Yamazaki
Japan 123 min. 

Godzilla Minus One is the fifth film in the third reboot in the chronicles of Godzilla. We are currently in the Reiwa era of the long-running and beloved franchise. The Reiwa era begins with the excellent Shin Godzilla (2016),  and continues with three made-for-Netflix animated films I’m not familiar with. But none of this knowledge is necessary to enjoy  the most current offering Godzilla Minus One. Although it does help to know this new Godzilla timeline contains even more direct commentary on nuclear waste and weaponry. In these films, Godzilla is formed and fed from nuclear waste, like some sort of dinosaur shaped tumor. In this movie, Godzilla is summoned (or fabricated) by the nuclear attacks at the end of World War II. The story follows Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a kamikaze pilot who failed to carry out his mission and arrives home having survived the war. Surviving Kamikaze pilots faced backlash from their peers and neighbors and lived with a stigma of failure. Kōichi feels this immediately upon returning home. His house is in rubble and his neighbor Sumiko Ōta (Sakura Ando) curses his name and blames him for the death of his own parents. While rebuilding his family home, Kōichi encounters and ends up housing Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe), a woman forced to steal to feed her baby. She has nowhere to go, and the three form a plutonic family unit. Things get a little better as time passes. Kōichi eventually gets a job on a fleet of boats clearing floating mines for the government: a not too safe, but high paying endeavor. We watch the family unit grow. We  see the neighborhood regenerate over the period of a year or two. We watch Sumiko slowly forgive Kōichi’s wartime “failure” and help with the baby and become a neighbor. The human story in this Godzilla movie is well-acted and believable. I don’t want to spoil the story, but I have to guess you already understand that Godzilla is going to throw a wrench into this suburban bliss. Kōichi’s story is well-written. Giving the Godzila audience a good character  to root for lessens the sting for those prone to root for the beloved lizard. Also, again not to give anything away, his position on the boat puts him in a situation where he will be part of the solution. Will he redeem himself? The movie pulls this off without being contrived.  It’s a fun movie with a lot of action and a nice story that doesn’t muck up the proceedings by being cloying. You don’t have to have a large knowledge of the franchise to enjoy the movie. As a fan, I found it a refreshing addition to the lore. – (Billups Allen)

Billups Allen’s book 101 Films You Could See Before You Die is available through Goner Records. Off the Marquee on the web.