Thanks to a Cineworld Unlimited Screening I had the chance to preview Godzilla Minus One a movie that I have been so excited about since I first heard about its release sometime back, so I was hoping that the new movie from Toho would be as good as I hoped.
The new Godzilla movie is set in post-occupation Japan, made to commemorate the franchise’s 69th and 70th anniversaries, and is the second Reiwa Era instalment since Shin Godzilla (2016). Godzilla Minus One certainly doesn’t hold back by bringing us an opening scene that sets us on the path of a superb monster movie as we are introduced to the main character and Godzilla in a stunning sequence that looks amazing on the big screen.
We are then taken on a journey through a few years as Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) who is a failed Kamakazi pilot returns home and faces not only the destruction of his home town but also the dishonour of not performing his duty to die in the role as a Kamakazi.
But he soon meets up with Noriko Oishi (Minami Hamabe) who taking care of a small child, the two come together and in turn, we get a wonderful, if somewhat strange, relationship between the two. But Koichi doesn’t want to commit as he still feels a failure for not performing his duty in the war.
But after some time Godzilla returns and pure devastation is caused by the creature that has since grown since Koichi’s first contact with it previously. Now Godzilla is destroying everything in its path and it’s down to those that have survived the war to save Tokyo from annihilation.
I’ve been a big fan of Godzilla since seeing 1954’s Gojira back in the late 70s, I’m sure it’s the fascination with dinosaurs that pulled me into the movie or that the 1954 movie was just something that grabbed my attention and from that point onward Godzilla has stuck with me.
One of the many things that I love about Godzilla Minus One is that it seems such a powerful story that is not just about Godzilla it’s about the struggles of the characters who not only have to fight for their lives but also have to try and rebuild them after World War II was over.
It’s the characters that pulled me into this movie, I found myself wanting them to survive, find their place and be able to defeat a monster that usually I’d be cheering on. But let’s not forget that Godzilla is a force to be reckoned with and this new movie certainly has some amazing scenes that have you on the edge of your seat as the gigantic and most famous Kaiju in cinematic history.
Godzilla Minus One looks stunning on the cinema screen, the cinematography looks fantastic and the set designs pull you into a 1940s Japan. The costume design also looks great in every scene. When it comes to the special effects I really couldn’t fault them, the scenes on the sea with Godzilla attack stood up on the big screen, plus the sound effects boom out of the speaker system especially Godzilla’s raw and when the heat ray kicks in.
The music from Naoki Satô is perfect for the atmosphere during the movie, we also get an amazing rendition of Akira Ifukube‘s original theme that I have to say gave me chills, it reminded me of when I first saw the 1954 movie when the theme did the same to me then.
If you are a fan of the Toho movies then Godzilla Minus One will certainly be for you, I’m just glad that the movie wasn’t dubbed and that it kept its original Japanese language and with subtitles, with a lot of movies that are dubbed they lose gravitas, so seeing the movie with the subtitles gives you all the emotion from the original actors and makes it a far more enjoyable movie to watch.
Writer and director Takashi Yamazaki has brought a movie that must be seen on the big screen and to be honest I would say the bigger the screen the better. After last night’s Cineworld Unlimited Screening, I’m hoping to get to see it again but this time in all its IMAX glory.
GODZILLA MINUS ONE will be released in cinemas, IMAX, 4DX, Screen X and Dolby Cinema screens across the United Kingdom and Ireland from 15th December 2023 in Japanese with English subtitles.
