‘Post-war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.’

We actually watched this film mid-December, but I’ve only now gotten around to writing the review; thank heavens I’d made notes.

Not that long ago, we used to be avid cinema-goers, but 2023 wasn’t a huge year at the cinema for us.

We only saw a handful of films, our best experience being the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.

I was holding out hope for ‘Napoleon’, but after watching the trailers, decided against it because of the historical inaccuracies… maybe I’ve become less patient with that sort of thing in my old age.

So, there I was, about to draw a line under our cinema visits when, to our intense delight, our cinema decided to screen ‘Godzilla: Minus One’.

As Gordon is quite the Godzilla fan, we’d known about this film but didn’t know if we’d get the chance to see it on the big screen.

We had to be quick, though, as it was only in the cinema for a very short period.

The film opens in the final days of the Second World War just before Japan’s surrender.

We’re immediately introduced to our main character, Koichi Shikishima, played by Ryunosuke Kamiki.

Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) (Image: Toho Studios)

A pilot now designated a kamikaze pilot, he lands his single-seater plane on Odo, a small island with a small Japanese garrison, claiming there’s a problem with his plane.

The chief engineer, Sosaku Tachibana, played by Munetaka Aoki, checks the plane thoroughly with his men but doesn’t find anything wrong with it.

Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki) (Image: Toho Studios)

Despite Tachibana not outwardly saying anything about cowardice, Shikishima reacts defensively.

As night falls, the men, including Shikishima, are attacked by a strange creature that emerges from the sea whom the locals refer to as “Gojira” (Godzilla).

They dive for cover, and Tachibana tells Shikishima to get to his plane and use his machine gun to kill Godzilla.

He manages to get to his plane but freezes then, terrified, runs but is knocked unconscious when Godzilla destroys the plane.

Shikishima regains consciousness in the early hours only to find all the men dead, save Tachibana who is burying his comrades.

With the war finally over, Shikishima returns to his parents’ home in a devastated Tokyo where he finds the house in ruins and his parents dead.

Living with his guilt and shame of failing to fulfil his duty, of returning home alive instead of dying an honourable death, Shikishima has a chance encounter with a young woman, Noriko Oishi, played by Minami Hamabe, who is caring for an orphaned infant, Akiko.

Noriko (Minami Hamabe) (Image: Toho Studios)

They end up forming a little family purely out of necessity and in a bid to give the baby girl a chance at some sort of life.

In this they are helped by Shikishima’s neighbour, Sumika Ota, played by Sakura Ando.

Sumika (Sakura Ando) (Image: Toho Studios)

Eventually, Shikishima takes a comparatively well-paid government approved job as a mine-hunter, to search the sea for Japanese and American mines, and destroy them.

He joins a crew comprised of Kenji Nada, an ex-Navy technical officer, known as ‘Doc’, played by Hidetaka Yoshioka; Yoji Akitsu or ‘Captain’, played by Kuranosuke Sasaki; and Shiro Mizushima or ‘the Kid’, played by Yuki Yamada.

An ex-serviceman, the Captain doesn’t hide his disillusionment with the military and government who treated servicemen as no more than cannon fodder.

(L-R) ‘the Kid’ (Yuki Yamada), ‘Doc’ (Hidetaka Yoshioka), ‘Captain’ (Kuranosuke Sasaki), and Shikishima (Image: Toho Studios)

Shikishima and Noriko remain together, their relationship still platonic, and Akiko, now an adorable toddler played by Saki Nakatani, believes them both to be her parents.

Akiko (Saki Nakatani) (Image: Toho Studios)

In mid-1946, as the Japanese rebuild their country and their lives, the US conducts nuclear weapons tests, known as Operation Crossroads, in the Bikini Atoll.

The effects of that become apparent the following year when Godzilla finally reappears.

Although larger now than the creature he saw on Odo island, Shikishima realises it is the same monster.

As the film progresses, you’re left wondering how the people, still recovering from having lost everything in the war, can possibly survive this new horror with their military having been completely disarmed and the ban on manufacturing anything that would enable the country to rearm for war.

The writer and director, Takashi Yamazaki, has done an excellent job portraying Godzilla as he was in the original 1954 Toho Studios classic, ‘Godzilla’ – a chaotic force of nature, not the anti-hero of Legendary’s MonsterVerse.

The 1954 ‘Godzilla’ dealt with the effects of the atomic bomb, which had been unleashed on Japan barely 10 years previous.

While Godzilla in ‘Minus One’ has also mutated because of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and America’s testing in the South Pacific, the focus of the film isn’t on the devastating effects of nuclear weapons but on the cost of war.

And that brings us to the human element, something most, if not all, Godzilla films struggle with.

Many of us haven’t had to contend with the aftermath of surviving a war, but the themes in this film are universal.

It deals with loss, of the importance of family, learning to trust and believe that life is worth living, to stand up and do the right thing, to protect those you care for no matter the cost.

Even though this is billed as a monster movie, honestly, you could take Godzilla out of the film and the story will still stand because it’s compelling with likeable characters and believable character development.

You care for all the characters, and you don’t want any of them to be hurt.

Refreshingly, given much of current Western fare, men act like men in this film.

Having survived the war, none of them want to die, yet they’re willing to lay their lives on the line, to protect that which is dear to them.

Not that the women are short-changed; they’re feminine yet strong with not a single girl-boss in sight!

As for the monster, whether he’s in the water or on land, this Godzilla is truly terrifying.

And I’m sure this is the most devastating portrayal of his atomic breath I’ve ever seen.

Godzilla attacking a train (Image: Toho Studios)

Even though the actors all played their characters so well, even the little girl, Saki Nakatani, I want to mention a couple that really stood out for me.

Ryunosuke Kamiki as Shikishima does a fantastic job in depicting how honour and shame are viewed in Japanese culture, the ancient belief that it is better to die an honourable death instead of living in shame; the expectation that you will do your duty, and the repercussions of failing to do so.

His portrayal of survivor’s guilt and PTSD come across as very real, you feel his pain.

Sakura Ando’s depiction of Sumika, Shikishima’s neighbour, is a wonderful example of how to bring a character to life with little to no backstory, one who doesn’t have a huge amount of screentime but who still changes.

The musical score by Naoki Sato complements the film perfectly, especially as he’s incorporated Akira Ikufube’s original Godzilla Theme.

There’s one scene near the end of the film which played out in complete silence and, instead of taking you out of the experience, it heightened the tension.

The cinema screen was near-full, yet the place was in total silence, not a sound as the scene unfolded.

The budget for ‘Godzilla Minus One’ was about $15 million, and while the CGI and effects are, for the most part, quite good, there are moments when it falters.

As of last week, ‘Godzilla Minus One’ has reached the $100 million milestone at the global box office.

Not bad for a foreign monster film that had very little international marketing.

It makes the point, quite perfectly, that wonky effects matter little to the audience when they’re captivated by a strong story and solid, believable characters.

Hollywood and their ilk would do well to take note.

3 trailers were released, and here’s the first one; the other 2 are on YouTube.

Film Review - 'Godzilla Minus One'