I don’t get out to the theater very often, there aren’t a ton of things I feel the need to see on the big screen, and I have never seen a Godzilla movie on the big screen. There was a lot of hype surrounding this movie, a lot of people, not just Godzilla fans saying how good it was. I had to see it. I took my son on the last day that Godzilla Minus One was in the theater, not realizing it was going to be the Minus Color version. It wasn’t an IMAX movie, or even on one of the biggest screens in the theater, but it absolutely felt like something special. Take all the praise you’ve heard about the movie, and believe it. It is that good of a movie, not just a great Godzilla movie, but a great movie. Seeing it in black and white really made it feel connected to Ishiro Honda’s 1954 Gojira. Watching color footage of Minus One almost feels like a step down, the lack of color adds something to the experience.

Writer/Director/FX supervisor Takashi Yamazaki crafts a powerful story, a movie that works not just as a kaiju film, but as a human story. Some people may say that the human story is secondary to the monster action in a Godzilla movie, but Minus One provides a compelling and emotional story around Godzilla. Godzilla is often used as a metaphor, a representation of atomic energy, to point out shortcomings in the unending bureaucracy that can paralyze the government in times of crisis (The also outstanding Shin Godzilla), the literal ghosts of Japan’s atrocities (Godzilla GMK). Godzilla can be as deep or simple as needed for the story. I don’t think Godzilla needs a personality, or even deep motivation for what he does, Godzilla just is. 

Ryunosuke Kamiki gives a fantastic performance as Koichi Shikishima, a kamikaze pilot that did not want to die as a kamikaze, and (maybe) had the chance to stop Godzilla before it mutated into the giant beast that comes for Japan. His inaction leads to the death of many other men on Odo Island, and he is tortured by this. He is a man ravaged by guilt and shame, a man who cannot fully live. He ends up caring for a woman named Noriko, played by Minami Oishi, who herself is taking care of a baby after the death of the child’s parents. The little one, Akiko (Sae Nagatani) completes their little found family. Shikishima cannot fully give himself to the family, as desperately as he may want to, because he is so haunted by his past. 

Shikishima takes a job cleaning up mines left over from World War II to provide for his family. He and his crew mates, have great chemistry, you feel their friendship grow, and see how much they care about each other. Godzilla shows up at the worst time he could for Japan, as they have little left to defend themselves after WWII. Eventually they realize that they cannot count on the US or any major military intervention to stop Godzilla, so a team of volunteers must stand as a community and take the fight to Godzilla. There is commentary about the value of life, being able to live after tragedy, forgiveness, being able to love, and allowing oneself to be loved. It all comes together at the end, and I was genuinely surprised at just how emotional the movie was. I teared up, more than once. 

Is Godzilla Minus One the best Godzilla movie? Maybe, although I think the 1954 original still holds that crown. It’s top 3 for me for sure, I would probably put it at 2 with Shin Godzilla just below it at 3. Godzilla Minus One is a masterpiece, an unexpectedly emotional film that stays with you, I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I saw it last week, I’m glad I got to share the experience with my son.

P.S. Hidetaka Yoshioka as Kenji Noda has great hair.