Poster for the film Godzilla Minus One, showing an image of Godzilla inside a painted letter G

And Godzoooooky

This movie has literally everything I think of when I think of a Godzilla movie.

  • Hammy acting
  • Ensemble cast
  • Main character with a tragic past looking for redemption
  • Spectacular special effects
  • Themes and metaphors
  • Terrible special effects

It’s the themes part of that list that really stand out in Godzilla -1. PTSD, grief, survivors guilt, feeling betrayed by your own country, finding hope and family in the rubble of defeat. All of these, and probably a few more that I missed, are woven into the plot with great effect.

Admittedly, none of it is subtle and the script spells everything out for you like it’s teaching each concept to a small child. But that never stops it from being effective and frequently quite moving.

The Oscar winning special effects are superb. They manage to be both an homage to the original movies as well as being a modern special effects extravaganza. The scenes of Godzilla stomping around Ginza have this weird quality where the fidelity of the cgi, combined with the old-school monster design, make it look like a giant man in a rubber suit is actually flattening a city. It’s genius and goofy at the same time and I loved it.

The direction has an old-school feel to it as well. Shots are held for far longer than we’re used to in American movies, especially in action scenes. This results in a gradual building of tension and a feeling of reverence towards Godzilla. You feel like the film makers really want to do justice to the big-G and wanted the camera to linger on him long enough to appreciate just how great he is. Admittedly, it doesn’t generate the sense of thunder-struck awe that Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla managed but it comes surprisingly close.

Literally everything you could want in a monster movie.