Godzilla Minus One Takes Over Theaters!
Sam Shoneman, Writer
March 22, 2024
Image property of Toho Studios
At first glance, Godzilla Minus One looks like a cheap, foreign, unoriginal, same-old Godzilla movie that is not worth anyone’s time. However, it would be hard for me to think of any other movie more fun, thrilling, and incredibly entertaining to occupy your time at the theaters than Godzilla Minus One.
Although Godzilla Minus One did not receive as much popularity and box office revenue as the other hits of 2023 like Oppenheimer or Barbie, its reception was still very impressive in spite of its disadvantages, even managing to earn an Oscar nomination! The movie was heavily under-advertised in America, it was only available in Japanese, and it relied on a budget of only $15 million dollars. For reference, Napoleon (2023) had a budget of $130 million and just one episode of Marvel’s She-Hulk cost $25 million. Godzilla Minus One’s success despite its low budget shows how a great story, even with odds stacked against it, can still be recognized and credited as being an amazing movie. It’s these types of movies, made with pure passion, not greed, that give hope to a movie industry spiraling into low-quality money grabs controlled by large selfish corporations.
Godzilla Minus One is a visually stunning, emotionally heartbreaking, and jaw-dropping cinematic sensation… entirely in Japanese. That’s right, if you want to enjoy this beautiful movie you will need to sit through two hours and five minutes of subtitles taking up space at the bottom of your screen. This does affect the viewing experience, but not as dramatically as one would think. There is definitely a disconnect with some emotional line deliveries and mild distraction having to read the subtitles all the time, but it does not feel unnatural, and after leaving the theater it personally took me a while to even remember I watched it in subtitles as I was more caught up with how good the movie was.
I found this movie extremely refreshing and eye-opening as it reflected a lot of the fears and values in Japanese culture in the aftermath of World War 2. The main character, Koichi, is an ex-kamikaze pilot who must deal with survivor’s guilt, dishonor, and PTSD. So many times in American war films is the trope of the soldier coming home to embrace his loved ones and feel the sense of relief of returning from war, however, Godzilla Minus One gives a new perspective to what it feels like for soldiers who come back after actually losing a war and in a culture where dying with honor is better than surviving with failure. Also, the brilliant design of Godzilla perfectly embodies the fear surrounding the horrific nuclear bomb explosions that dramatically forced Japan to surrender at the end of World War 2. Godzilla’s skin is black and mangled portraying the rubble and ash that was left over after the infamous bombing and the iconic atomic breath, instead of being a continuous beam of blue light, is actually a short burst that erupts into an almost identical explosion to that of the atomic bomb. The true fear that Godzilla inspires is perfectly shown in perhaps one of the best scenes of 2023 and the scene that earned a Best Visual Effects Oscar win, where Godzilla slowly recoils his body to unleash a devastating blast of atomic breath. The civilians gaze up at a vast mushroom cloud in complete terror as they relieve their worst nightmare. It is this fear and sizematic destruction that makes this film so enjoyable to watch, to see civilians that have been through so much have to relieve it all again. And it is that concept from which the title “Godzilla Minus One” derives from. After World War 2, Japan is left with nothing: zero, but out of the depths of the Pacific emerges the magical creature Godzilla, which continues to terrorize the people of Japan therefore diminishing the country even below rock bottom: minus one.
I would give this movie a 4.5 out of 5 stars as it is a perfect melting pot of everything that one hopes to see in a Godzilla movie. There are stunning special effects, highly emotional stories knitted between large-scale action sequences, a tremendous score, beautiful messaging, meaningful characters, and of course: mass destruction. The only thing holding me back from giving this movie a perfect 5 out of 5 is just the fact that it is in Japanese and I must read the subtitles to understand which blurs the connection I have with the delivery of important lines. With that incredibly nit-picky comment being said, I would watch Godzilla Minus One over and over again and my viewing was one of the most fun I have had watching a movie in a long time.
About the Contributor
Sam Shoneman, Writer
Sam Shoneman is a junior at Franklin High School and has participated in Pantherbook for two years now. He loves writing reviews and critiques for all the upcoming movies. Sam has been with the Franklin track team since his freshman year, but he also is a competitive fencer outside of school. Along with watching movies, Sam enjoys skiing, watching football, and writing in his free time. This year, he looks forward to branching out to different topics of writing, but also will continue to post movie reviews for all the new big hits!