Final Rating: 4.5/5
Back in 2023 Godzilla Minus One was a surprise international hit for the iconic Japanese kaiju franchise. While there was Shin Godzilla released in 2016, most North American audiences remained blissfully unaware that Toho Studios, creators of the famous monster had released 33 films over the course of 69 years. Godzilla Minus One ended up grossing over $100 million dollars worldwide (on a budget of $10 million) and the VFX team won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The film helped bring back the grounded realism and social commentary the franchise was founded on compared to the more rock ‘em sock ‘em American films.
Director Takashi Yamazaki is back with a direct sequel to Minus One, Godzilla Minus Zero that takes place not long after the events of the first film. Kôichi Shikishima (Ryûnosuke Kamiki) has finally gotten over his own perceived personal failures as a kamikaze pilot and is enjoying post-war (and post-Godzilla) life with the home that he has made with wife Noriko (Minami Hamabe) and their adopted daughter Akiko (Sae Nagatani).
Their newfound bliss is interrupted when reports of a dragon-like monster emerging causing plenty of destruction. Professor Kanji Murakami (Min Tanaka) manages to capture video footage of this creature that shoots electrical beams out of its mouth, blows wind and has gravity breath that can lift large scale objects in the air. He brings the footage to Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), who has been promoted from the first film to now run a disaster relief governmental agency.
The first film heavily touched on the ethics of being a soldier for Japan in WW2 and whether or not it was considered an honour to willfully die for your country, once again bringing politics into the series. Now the American government is only too keen to give Japan state of the art war planes under the condition that the Japanese will do the dirty work by being the ones to drop a large bomb on the creature and even go as far as painting over American symbols with giant red circles.
When dropping a large bomb on the creature they have named Ghidorah proves to not only fail, the radiation causes it to quickly evolve by growing two additional heads and a much bigger tail, as things get a lot worse for the Japanese. The news dubs this new kaiju “King Ghidorah” and its power is tripled.
Just when all hope looks lost, Godzilla emerges from the waters bigger, meaner and stronger than the previous film having spent time regenerating after what was thought to be a death blow to him in Minus One. The plan for Noda and his team is to pit the two monsters against each other with the winner hopefully in a state so weakened that the military can swoop in and destroy the survivor with ease.
Professor Murakami has developed a type of sonar that when you affix it to one creature, others of its kind will flock to it. After Noriko survived Godzilla’s attacks in the previous film, she developed unusual traits that bonded her with the monster. The plan is to affix the sonar to Noriko and have Shikishima guide Godzilla via plane to where King Ghidorah has been baited to. Then, just as Ken Watanabe stated in 2014’s Godzilla, “Let them fight” is the mantra.
What made Godzilla Minus One so remarkable was despite a modest budget its special effects looked far superior than the films that cost 20x more. Takashi Yamazaki helped keep costs low by being the primary visual effects artist and he returns to that role. While the actual budget is currently unknown, rumours are the film didn’t cost much more than the first. Once again, the visual effects lap just about every big budget CGI spectacle Hollywood has put out basically ever.
Ghidorah’s lightning strikes are as bright and beautiful as they are terrifying. You feel the weight of these electrical attacks coming from deep inside its chest through to when it blows up objects upon impact. The destruction feels so much more devastating this time around too. Godzilla as a character isn’t allowed to eat or hunt humans (per Toho’s official policy), so oftentimes fights between monsters seem to exist in completely deserted cities as they smash into empty buildings rarely giving the illusion of danger. But in this film people get zapped and stepped on by Ghidorah, concrete chunks fall squarely on fleeing citizens and every death hits with the weight a life deserves.
Godzilla’s look has been updated, as is customary with each Godzilla film. While the spikes running down his back and tail still get activated and turn blue as he is about to use his atomic breath, his chest glows red like blackened and burnt rocks scarred with lava veins. At one point Godzilla chops off one of King Ghidorah’s three heads and it appropriately looks disgusting.
The politics don’t stop either with the Americans trying to exert their military industrial complex, as Professor Murakami, the lone survivor in his family from the Hiroshima bombing, manically fantasizes about Godzilla destroying New York City. Godzilla was created by Americans dropping an atomic bomb on Japan (and the fear of what the radiation would do to people), so reversing that image by turning their monster back onto Frankenstein to exact revenge isn’t far-fetched at all.
The few American characters in the film are viewed as incompetent, untrustworthy and thieving. They don’t trust the Japanese, but in reality the Americans had no problem importing Nazi scientists like Wernher von Braun who built missiles during the war and was later put in charge of NASA stateside.
For longtime fans of the franchise it has everything you want. Composer Naoki Satô utilizes both the classic Godzilla and King Ghidorah themes to great effect along with his own heart pounding work. The fight choreography is sublime and allows the audience to see and appreciate all the spectacle. If there is a technical aspect that stands above the rest, it would be the sound design. The first time we see Godzilla in the film, he is emerging from the waters, as his iconic motif plays a nearby military ship gets capsized like the Titanic, with water rushing down the halls of the vessel in terrifying fashion.
There are plenty of nods to the original 1954 film as the streets of Ginza where the final battle takes place looks reminiscent of the original Tokyo set. One pilot is named Honda, a clear nod to Ishirō Honda, who not only helmed the original film but seven subsequent entries. Min Tanaka who plays the Professor even seems to be channeling iconic Japanese star Takashi Shimura who starred in the first film.
This incredible feat of filmmaking manages to somehow improve on the fantastic first film continuing to deliver plenty of action, fantastic visual effects and plenty of heart that makes you care about the characters and the livelihood of the titular monster. You will leave with your ears ringing, eyeballs scorched and with so many dopamine hits you will be looking for other ways to chase that dragon… I mean lizard.
