Godzilla Minus One

Hollywood's recent attempts at Godzilla have left me cold and unimpressed as the franchise went into some very wacky places and lost the sense of epic scale and awe one should expect when giant beasts are onscreen. Enter Godzilla Minus One in 2023 to right the wrongs and prove you don't need even $50 million to do justice to the kaiju. 

Set during the dying embers of WW2 in Japan, a kamikaze pilot lands on a small pacific island unable to carry out his purpose in the war but pretends he has a fault with the plane. Just before he can confess why he landed, the island is attacked by Godzilla who only spares the pilot and one of the engineers before disappearing into the sea. Some time later after the war when much of Japan is reduced to rubble, the pilot enlists in helping to remove sea mines but soon finds there's something else in the sea.

Made on a modest budget of around $17 million, Godzilla Minus One is directed by Takashi Yamazaki who has a highly decorated background in visual effects in Japan and he puts his skills to great use here in this highly impressive action epic. Unlike the Hollywood films of late, Yamazaki understands how to deliver the spectacle in moderation but also successfully offer a very good human drama at the centre of it all, which I did not expect. 

Ryûnosuke Kamiki leads an impressive cast who are all excellent, even if I couldn't understand a word they said and relied entirely on the subtitles. This can sometimes be a barrier for viewers, and there is a lot of reading to do at the start of the film to the point I was missing what was on screen, but I would highly recommend sticking with this because it is worth it to see Yamazaki's story unfold. 

Godzilla Minus One is the kind of perfect action epic I would happily be left as a single film but a sequel is already in development following the huge success found here. I hope Yamazaki can find a way to continue delivering on this level but it will not be easy as he set a very high bar. This one is an easy recommendation for fans of the genre and might just have enough for those who don't typically go for the monster epic.