Kōichi Shikishima is a failed kamikaze pilot who loses an entire garrison to an onslaught by a young Godzilla after freezing up behind weapon controls. After surviving and returning home to find everything reduced to burned rubble and his family killed, Shikishima ensues a journey of survivor’s guilt as he aids his new colleagues in dismantling sea mines left after the war with the dark burden he now carries. However, after Godzilla begins growing and causing more direct threats to cities, our protagonists must all confront the monster as both a threat to their very existence and a manifestation of their traumas.
Yamazaki and Kiyoko Shibuya both bring excellent visual effects work. Scenes where Godzilla rampages through the streets feel like a direct modernisation of his destructive walk in its first 1954 outing. The tighter, more up-close scale for Godzilla’s onslaught scenes as opposed to Shin Godzilla’s grander, more apocalyptic vision also made for a more personal connection with the perspectives of our determined characters. One of the film’s greatest scenes, involves a game of cat and mouse with a boat and some sea mines that becomes the most creative usage of ramping tension I have seen this year.
Godzilla Minus One has brought one of the most human, gorgeously-shot and charismatic films of the decade thus far
Aside from action, Yamazaki’s auteur filmmaking also provides an art gallery of emotive shots and swaying mise en scène to strike a beautiful balance between cherished moments of happiness and blackened anguish. The aftermath of the bombing of Shikishima’s town is plagued with despair, as a survivor berates him amongst smoke and charred remains for daring to return as a failed Kamikaze after she had lost everything. The acting and script is also wittier and more human than any other entry in the franchise thus far. More chemistry is given to our colourful range of characters, who all share laughter, clash and grieve together with vibrant conversation. This makes the film’s overarching theme of trauma and healing much more potent, as the pain felt by Shikishima and his loved ones as Godzilla wipes homes and families apart is fully felt.
Similar to Shin Godzilla, Minus One shows it is up to the more open-minded younger generation to push through and carry hope of stopping their country’s biggest threats. While the former may have focused on the formal boardroom meetings of older reputation-obsessed politicians to provide a bleak overview of the government’s deep flaws, Minus One, in a much-needed change of events, throws us straight into the struggles of the youth and survivors of war.
Godzilla is likely a franchise that will remain forever prominent. They are not just a monster that wreaks havoc for its own sake. It is a reflection of the darkness and wrongdoings of past generations. So long as there are well-written characters and stories on our political and human flaws to be had, Godzilla will always live on. For as many creative plans get construed on how to defeat this creature and seize hope of a brighter tomorrow, the never-ending wrongs and burdens of humanity will forever bring them back. With this, Godzilla Minus One has brought one of the most human, gorgeously-shot and charismatic films of the decade thus far.
