2 min to read
Godzilla Minus One
Is this the best Godzilla movie yet?
The Good: While I have never seen another Godzilla movie besides this one, I have always been underwhelmed by Godzilla from trailers and clips of movies he has been in. The way I have seen Godzilla approached made it seem like Godzilla was never really threatening or menacing. He just seemed a little goofy to me. This movie proved me otherwise, for the better. Throughout the movie, Godzilla is only seen as a massive, overarching, and near impossible to defeat threat, lurching its way into every corner to cause more chaos and destruction than the previous scene. It was incredible.
What helped elevate these scenes were the great visuals used for Godzilla and his atomic breath. When Godzilla would appear out of the water, it wouldn’t just be Godzilla walking up to boats and trying to destroy them, rather it was Godzilla hunting, swimming, and stalking his next attack. This really allowed tension to be naturally developed, having those in the boat feel a sense of urgency, fear, and failure, as if they knew their end was near and there was nothing they could do about it. When Godzilla was ready to strike, the film makers took their time to show every step of the charge up process, starting from the spikes rising to the nearly atomic destruction afterwards. It was beautiful and nearly flawlessly executed.
What I also loved about the movie is that it was focusing on love and family at the same time. Godzilla wasn’t the main character. The main character was a former kamikaze pilot who failed to meet his national duty (didn’t die in combat). The fact this movie focused on something emotionally resonant and sound rather than just survival made this movie feel more real and personal. Yeah, not everyone would feel national shame like the main character does, but it doesn’t mean we haven’t experienced the same emotions he has. Godzilla just allowed more serious moments to stand out more and to make relationships seem more important, which I’m nearly certain most kaiju movies aren’t successful at doing.
The Meh: While this isn’t a bad part of the movie, rather it is more of a struggle for me: I cannot do a full subtitled movie. I struggle with it. I know it shouldn’t be an issue, but it was for me. I just had a hard time fully connecting with the movie because I had to read everything rather than just experiencing the movie and understanding dialogue. This is definitely a “me issue” rather than a “movie issue,” but it was an issue I had nonetheless.
Overall: This is definitely the best (and only) Godzilla movie I have ever seen up to this point. It was brutal, it was personal, and it was full of Godzilla destruction. While I really do struggle with subtitles, I still greatly enjoyed watching this movie. It is definitely one I can’t wait to watch again.
Rating: 4.5/5
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