Godzilla Minus One: Bringing the Humanity Back to Monster Movies

You may see the title Godzilla Minus One and think, “What the heck is that?”

Well, I was in your shoes about a month ago. However, I slowly started to see some chatter saying that it was a game-changer film made by Toho Studios, the originator of Godzilla, for just 15 million dollars. I went in with low expectations. Sometimes you just never know what you’ll get. I mean how can you make a realistic-looking monster movie with 15 million dollars?

I laughed.

I sat on the edge of my seat.

And I cried.

All at one of the best movies of the year.

Beyond the Monster

More recent Godzilla movie offerings have explored where the radiation-juiced dinosaur came from, but Godzilla Minus One smartly focuses on an often ignored concept in monster movies: the people. It gives you a complex character you can both root for and disagree with frequently. This makes it much more than a story of monsters and men, but a journey of learning to live even when carrying the deep guilt of surviving.

When Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) goes AWOL from his duty as a kamikaze pilot in WWII, he is taking on a dishonor that he will carry with him for the rest of his days. Pair that with his brush with death when he and a group of men are attacked by a smaller, Clifford-sized Godzilla, and you’ve got a large plate of survivor’s guilt. Especially, when he returns home to find his family is dead.

The film takes its time in exploring the complex feelings that come with this type of guilt and it carefully and smartly brings in new elements that force Shikishima to embrace life rather than deny the meaning of his survival.

Back to the Monster Classics

In more recent Godzilla adaptations, we’ve begun to see the tiny-armed super monster as some sort of anti-hero. However, this film goes back to its Godzilla roots, where he has one goal and one goal only: destroy.

This forces the audience to stop trying to figure out his potential motives or what side he’s playing. The only thing you’re worried about is how on earth these tiny humans are going to stop this thing.

What follows is both visually stunning and deeply moving as we see a people standing in the face of death and stopping at nothing to bring an unstoppable force to its knees.

But Truth be Told…

This movie was pretty incredible.

I had multiple moments where the hair stood up on the back of my neck as I guffawed at the complete mass destruction and cgi-radioactive-dinosaur-laserbeam-fest being portrayed onscreen. But at the same time, I found myself deeply moved by the emotional devastation our characters faced beyond just the threat of the monster. This film gives us the perfect example of blending spectacular action with deep emotional drama.

You may not have heard of Godzilla Minus One before seeing this. But I’m telling you now, stop what you’re doing and go see it.