Godzilla vs Kong was a fun, mindless time, but this movie showed me the power Godzilla has as an allegory and terror. Godzilla here is a force of nature and tragedy, a representation of a war and atrocities that took so many lives for no good reason at best and a litany of horrific ones at worst. This movie is about the human nature to not just survive but live in the face of it. It’s about moving forward. It’s about loving when you’ve lost so much and about not just defending your home but refusing some ideal of sacrifice and choosing to live in it after it all.
The cast all deliver. Kamiki shines as the lead, selling his guilt and anguish and making the soul soar when he’s finally overwhelmed not by despair but by euphoria and love. With him Yamada, Yoshioka, and Sasaki all share an engaging and warm bond, with Yoshioka having an especially charming and human presence. And Hamabe gives a performance that immediately makes you root for her and love her, and represents the emotional core and ideal of the theme of love and moving forward. Even smaller parts like Aoki’s I couldn’t look away from. In the modern Godzilla movies I’ve seen, the humans felt passable at best and boring, lifeless distractions at worst. Godzilla Minus One proves it doesn’t have to be this way. The human cast can shine as much if not more than the monster himself if you put the work in to truly synergize them so they strengthen each other rather than distract or detract from each other. It’s the unity of the human and monster element that leads to such emotional catharsis.
The ending left me a mess, obviously. But even beyond the seamless and heartfelt writing, I was completely taken aback by what also left me with chills and tears. Godzilla tearing through that first military ship and his rampage through Ginza was awesome in the purest sense. The weighty and believable special effects, the divinely and majestically chilling score, the scope of the directing and cinematography to make you really feel both Godzilla’s size and horrible capacity fir destruction and all the homes and lives crushed in his uncaring wake… all these elements and more were in such a perfect unison that I got choked up in a way I don’t know I ever have at a movie. In today’s cinema landscape cities are destroyed as a given, explosions commonplace, beams shooting into the sky a fixture of the skyline. Here it felt like it mattered. Here every movement and every piece of destruction felt weighted and real, never forgetting the lives that would be lost or irrevocably changed.
I feel like I understand Godzilla and his cultural weight and legacy so much more now. This film shows why he’s lasted almost 70 years now. It makes me want to check out the original Godzilla, Shin Godzilla, and more. The strength of Godzilla Minus One is that it conveys that Godzilla has an infinite amount of possibility, if you’re willing to go into the depths to experience it.
Review by JCVIP 4BlockedParent2023-12-22T08:35:10Z
Godzilla vs Kong was a fun, mindless time, but this movie showed me the power Godzilla has as an allegory and terror. Godzilla here is a force of nature and tragedy, a representation of a war and atrocities that took so many lives for no good reason at best and a litany of horrific ones at worst. This movie is about the human nature to not just survive but live in the face of it. It’s about moving forward. It’s about loving when you’ve lost so much and about not just defending your home but refusing some ideal of sacrifice and choosing to live in it after it all.
The cast all deliver. Kamiki shines as the lead, selling his guilt and anguish and making the soul soar when he’s finally overwhelmed not by despair but by euphoria and love. With him Yamada, Yoshioka, and Sasaki all share an engaging and warm bond, with Yoshioka having an especially charming and human presence. And Hamabe gives a performance that immediately makes you root for her and love her, and represents the emotional core and ideal of the theme of love and moving forward. Even smaller parts like Aoki’s I couldn’t look away from. In the modern Godzilla movies I’ve seen, the humans felt passable at best and boring, lifeless distractions at worst. Godzilla Minus One proves it doesn’t have to be this way. The human cast can shine as much if not more than the monster himself if you put the work in to truly synergize them so they strengthen each other rather than distract or detract from each other. It’s the unity of the human and monster element that leads to such emotional catharsis.
The ending left me a mess, obviously. But even beyond the seamless and heartfelt writing, I was completely taken aback by what also left me with chills and tears. Godzilla tearing through that first military ship and his rampage through Ginza was awesome in the purest sense. The weighty and believable special effects, the divinely and majestically chilling score, the scope of the directing and cinematography to make you really feel both Godzilla’s size and horrible capacity fir destruction and all the homes and lives crushed in his uncaring wake… all these elements and more were in such a perfect unison that I got choked up in a way I don’t know I ever have at a movie. In today’s cinema landscape cities are destroyed as a given, explosions commonplace, beams shooting into the sky a fixture of the skyline. Here it felt like it mattered. Here every movement and every piece of destruction felt weighted and real, never forgetting the lives that would be lost or irrevocably changed.
I feel like I understand Godzilla and his cultural weight and legacy so much more now. This film shows why he’s lasted almost 70 years now. It makes me want to check out the original Godzilla, Shin Godzilla, and more. The strength of Godzilla Minus One is that it conveys that Godzilla has an infinite amount of possibility, if you’re willing to go into the depths to experience it.