Film A Beautiful Film
Godzilla Minus One works amazingly well as a period piece if you're even a little plugged into Japanese World War II history. Its central theme ties richly into the time period with a condemnation of Imperial Japan's death-cult like obsession with demanding people sacrifice everything, even their lives, for the advancement of the nation and instead argues that people should commit themselves to life and to the people they love.
As a character drama, it's excellent. A strong, visually-distinct cast of characters, all of them likable, all of them sympathetic, and all of them contributing in their own way towards trying to save their country. Does it strain credulity a bit that private citizens ultimately succeed where the government fails? Kind of, yeah. But remember, in context, this government is a provisional mess and a rump fascist state besides. Screw 'em. Let the people they threw into the meat grinder band their courage, grit, and ingenuity together to save the country; that's what democracy's supposed to be! Besides, it's a call back to Godzilla Raids Again.
Which brings me to the third category... as a monster movie, it's decent. The special effects to realize Godzilla are clearly done on a budget, but they don't look worse than more expensive movies so I'm inclined to be forgiving. Unfortunately, while the story is a nice blend of several of the earliest Godzilla movies, Godzilla himself is kind of a weak link. From his super-bottom-heavy design, clearly intending to be marginally more "realistic" but hampered by the utter unrealism of the premise, to shots where he seems to be standing up in water he is later going to dive deep into, to his clunky integration into the film's thematic elements, to a Sequel Hook ending that pissed me off because it retroactively made all the tragedy and sacrifice moot, he's easily the weakest part of his own movie. He works alright as an obstacle for the human characters we love and root for to solve, and I did appreciate the way his atomic breath slowly revs up, like an atomic reactor boiling to a critical point inside of him, but it definitely feels like it could've gone to any other giant monster.
I never like it when people cite fiction as "proving" anything. You can't use a fictional world the author controls as "proof" of what would happen in the real world, and even when trying to make points about fiction, sometimes what's sweet food for some men is fierce poison for others. I should know; less than a week ago I posted a starkly critical review of a beloved Internet classic. But to the extent that such a thing can be done, this is proof that no, Godzilla doesn't need to be in the movie every second of every scene, and that no, human characters aren't always a waste the audience doesn't care about.
This is a great film and a fantastic time at the movies, and if you don't mind subtitles I recommend it regardless of what kind of movies you do like.
Film The new gold standard for Godzilla movies
It took nearly 70 years, but they finally made a Godzilla movie that not only reaches the highs of the original 1954 Gojira, but surpasses it.
Godzilla Minus One has some of the best monster scenes of any kaiju movie, from the tense Jaws-inspired boat chase to one of the greatest city destruction scenes put to film. Godzilla himself looks great, with a truly menacing design that is highly emotive.
But it is the human story that truly elevates Minus One above all other films starring the Big-G. Koichi and Noriko are by far the most compelling lead characters in Godzilla's entire filmography, surpassing the human cast of the original masterpiece. They feel like real people with real problems in a way most movies cannot match, and for once the audience roots for their unlikely family rather than the giant lizard knocking down every building in Tokyo. Koichi's struggles with survivor's guilt would make for a good movie even if Godzilla never appeared.
There are no bad or annoying characters. The mechanic who lost his entire crew, the scientist attempting to create a new ethic that values human life above honor, the kid who dreams of glory where the adults around him only remember pointless death. All of them are understandable and to some extent relatable.
Minus One has themes, like many Godzilla movies do. But the human story gives the themes and lessons about the value of human life greater weight than the human stories of past movies were able to do. The film is not carried by its themes any more than it is carried by its monster action, as many previous films have been.
There is a new king of monster movies, a new gold standard for kaiju films, and its name is Godzilla Minus One.