Shin Godzilla was made for Japan. Godzilla Minus One was made for us all. Every living soul.

How precious life is.

This is, in fact, the pulse of this film: life.

Minus One is a tour-de-force in both character-driven storytelling and monster-fueled horror. Where many G-films have succeeded in only one or the other, director Takashi Yamazaki weaves everything that has ever made the King of the Monsters impactful into one masterstroke.

Within the first ten minutes, we come to know the internal struggle of our protagonist and the horrible existence of a local legend: Godzilla. Not a moment is wasted during or after.

Yamazaki-san’s ergonomic, swift storytelling dominates the 2.5 hour runtime. Sweeping, historic beats pull us directly into the tortured life of Koichi Shikishima, played to perfection by Ryunosuke Kamiki. And through every moment of his “second life” with Minami Hamabe’s Noriko Oishi, we are made to care. Not through force or gimmicks, but through relationships. Through selfishness and selflessness. Through love and loss. Through life.

The last Toho Godzilla film, 2016’s Shin Godzilla, pulled from their decade’s-old filmography in unique – though abstract – ways. Original tokusatsu sound effects were used, as was Akira Ifukube’s iconic scores, to purposefully clash with that depiction of a modern-day Japan ravaged by an unfathomable beast.

Minus One takes the opposite approach, turning the clock back even further than Godzilla’s 1954 origins. This detraction (or minus) of the legacy brings the blight of war-torn, post-Nuclear-Holocaust Japan front and center. In kind, Ifukube-san’s genius feels not juxtaposed, but righteous. His music stirs in a way it has not since ’54; since Gojira.

‘When Ifukube’s score swells, Minus One soars’

This Godzilla is a living, breathing terror. He is of nature and lore simultaneously. He is both brilliant and agonizing to behold. And when Ifukube’s score swells, Minus One soars.

But Godzilla, nor his mythos, ever overpower the leading characters. Instead, the investment poured into their lives – as they scrape through an already-devastated Japan – emboldens the monster’s nature. He is the catastrophic threat; death personified. In turn, our heroes are life.

When trains are thrown, we feel it. When city streets are decimated, it hurts. Every casualty is brutal. For the first time since Gojira, the titular kaiju becomes not only death, but loss of life personified. As a result, Godzilla’s street-level destruction is devastating to behold.

But again, life is the heart of Minus One. As we are thrown into this era, we are met with souls fed up with death; fed up with a government and military content to send their most talented pilots into war as doomed Kamikaze pilots. So much death has wrought this country and its people that it is those very people who rise up to say no more.

And no matter the trauma, no matter the mistakes or loss, we can rise above. So long as we are breathing, we can not only survive, but thrive.

Godzilla Minus One tells us that Life is precious. Life is worth living.

Such a universal message is only effective when delivered by characters we care about. At the heart of Minus One is a group of rag-tag misfits reminiscent of Toho’s finest Showa Godzilla ensembles. Son of Godzilla, King Kong vs Godzilla, Godzilla vs Gigan and vs Hedorah (and the later GMK) come to mind. Each of these films had ordinary odd-balls front and center, and Minus One thrives on the same cast chemistry that makes those uneven films entertaining to this day.

Japanese Academy Award Winning actor Hidetaka Yoshioka is a standout as Kenji Noda. Getting to know his “Doc” is Minus One at it’s finest, and the same can be said of every other principal actor. Truly, this cast is one of the best to grace any screen in 2023, let alone Godzilla’s filmography.

It is Noda who encapsulates this epic’s message with a stirring monologue. His delivery is as perfect as it is moving, and you’ll know it when you see it.

The rest of his story – and the cast – are difficult to merit without spoiling the film. But in their notoriety lies another key difference from Shin. Both were masterfully cast, yet that 2016 ensemble was far more militant and one-note (on purpose) than the Ghibli-esque scoundrels and sailors that make up Minus One. In kind, it is the jarring, grotesque forms of Shin Godzilla that remain seared in pop culture seven years on and not the humans. It is the disaster we remember, not the humanity.

But seven years down the road from Minus One? We’ll remember these misfits, their journey of survival, and the Godzilla that pushed them to their limits with equal regard, guaranteed.

If you’ve been yearning for a reason to care about Godzilla – whether as a mythology or as the most moving movie monster in history – again, Minus One will do just that. And so much more.

Final Verdict: As heartbreaking as it is uplifting and entertaining, Godzilla Minus One is a stirring reminder of the preciousness of life set in one of humanity’s most devastating decades, told as only Japan could.

9/10

• Merits: Pitch-perfect cast and the best script to grace a G-film since 1954.
• The best looking Godzilla in decades. He is equal parts living, breathing life-form and Japanese demon. Those eyes will pierce your soul, and his atomic power has never been so effectively realized.
• Engaging cinematography, score, and set design pull you into this masterful period-piece.
• Entertaining, devastating, and uplifting from start to finish; sometimes all at once.

• Detractors: As nostalgic as it is to hear Ifukube’s original themes put to (excellent) use once more, Godzilla is in need of new scores and melodies. Both Michiru Oshima and Kow Otani proved this is possible in the Millennium films.
• Uneven effects choices. In most instances, Godzilla has never looked or felt more real. But some shots leave something to be desired from both an SFX and mythos standpoints.