Godzilla Minus One

The protagonist’s repetitive lamenting over trauma and remorse becomes boring over time, but the gloomy tone of Japan’s deteriorating position in the war brings a lot to the gigantic monster. Against a background of dark, foreboding music, Godzilla is a symbol of the horrors of war, including the devastating nuclear threat. The ocean scenes with the monster are excellent, with a build-up and ideas to make the most of its physiological capabilities. It is scary, angry and indestructible. The scenes with Godzilla in the city are only perfunctory, as if the filmmakers didn’t want to repeat what has already been seen a hundred times before (even in American monster movies) and instead wanted to retain the specific maritime nature of the story. The budget of $15 million for such high-quality CGI mayhem is unbelievable and the film’s success in American cinemas could signal a change in thinking among the Hollywood bean counters as to what a good movie needs and doesn’t need. In this respect, Godzilla Minus One is another “transformational phenomenon” of the year, much as Barbenheimer was. (12/13/2023)

We’re gonna need a much bigger boat, or the famous mutated lizard intends to send post-war Japan and its traumatized inhabitants from ground zero to the basement. It comes with an attractive combination of the creator's heartfelt contribution from the realm of the destructive endemic and charming naivety, epitomized by the disheveled scientist’s shadow on the projector screen (with all due respect to Japan’s incredible ingenuity in protecting the country from natural disasters). I managed to get through the emotional outbursts and the crying on cue from the J-horror girl and focused on the beauty of the Kyushu J7W Shinden, which the local Lucius Fox had fitted with a button from Mr. Wayne. Kudos to Yamazaki for pulling it off with the budget that would have been enough for crazy Roland to get Broderick, Reno’s lighter, and a few live worms. (01/31/2024)

This year, it seems to me that perhaps all the films around which there is general hype seem to be slightly above average at best, and Japan's Godzilla -1.0 is another one of those. As long as it deals with the intimate fates of individuals in post-war Japan and the lizard is only seen in waves, it's fine. Once the lizard makes landfall, the Japanese get a chance to use their over-the-top acting, and the characters start hatching crazy plans, but it in the end it turns that the lizard is enough (... well, you'll see), so it goes down the tubes, at least for me. I can appreciate how it looks given its budget, but I can't enjoy it authentically. (12/23/2023)

World War II is over, but Japan is far from finished, for a gigantic monster is approaching its shores. Will it be stopped, or will it make the decimated country fall to the bottom? Godzilla -1.0 is a showcase of great-looking destruction, functional pathos and slightly over-the-top Japanese acting. All in all, though, it's an easily watchable film even for a European, the makers of which have enough enthusiasm, ideas and respect for the original films to make those two hours in the cinema a great time. (12/02/2023)

A return to the roots of a monster that grew out of traumatic guilt, a feeling of failure and the rise of the atomic age, which Japan felt on its body like no other nation. Yamazaki and co. have filmed an organic blend of post-war family drama and Jaws on steroids, making clever and aesthetically economical use of their limited budget. Even though those limits are perceptible, they are always in service of the whole, which is both intimate and epic at the same time. Godzilla Minus One is the kind of blockbuster that Gareth Edwards tried to make, i.e. unencumbered by compromises and pressure from the studio. It is depressing and uplifting, naïve and touching. Everything that I require from a blockbuster! (12/07/2023)