Godzilla: Minus One

From the opening to the ending, I was enthralled by the whole movie. It kept everything that I loved about Godzilla, and was able to make an extremely interesting backstory with the human characters. There was a lot of things that was addressed in this movie that I had never seen before.there was so many things that people will pick apart, but that's upon reflection. I had no criticisms or a reason to dislike this movie the whole time I watched it. So, in that respect, I will give it a perfect score. And I don't go slinging those out just every review. As a Godzilla fan, this was perfection to me.

I love monster movies. I enjoy big, dumb, fun action movies. So it shouldn't be difficult for me to like Godzilla-related movies. Let's look at what Hollywood has put out (with my rating):

Godzilla (2014) - 7 stars.

Kong: Skull Island - 5 stars.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - 3 stars.

Godzilla vs. Kong - 4 stars.

Aside from the 2014 version, all of my reviews mention decent action surrounded by a terrible movie. But I can't remember a single action scene from them. Comparatively, the action scenes in Godzilla Minus One are INCREDIBLE. They are fully memorable and had my jaw dropped as far as it would go.

BUT... this movie is 90% drama, only 10% Godzilla scenes. So you will fail unless you have a great story with fully developed characters and arcs, with full investment in those characters, with deep themes of trauma and remorse, and with emotionally powerful setups and payoffs.

Who in the world would have expected that to be the case.

This movie isn't just BEASTLY, it's sooooo good. Nearly every filmmaking aspect is well-done.

Hollywood, please learn from this. I'm begging you.

(1 viewing, 1/18/2024)

Godzilla Minus One is one of the best Godzilla films in recent time. It gave me everything i wanted for the first time ever I was actually invested in the human characters and their story normally you are just waiting for Godzilla to show up but not here Godzilla shows up alot and when he does he is BRUTAL. This Godzilla makes things personal by actively attacking the humans. The movie had great pacing where it doesn't feel like it's going on for too long and it was nice to have a darker story set after WW2. It really goes back to the franchise's roots. There's so much to say but it would give a lot away JUST SEE THE MOVIE ON THE BIGGEST SCREEN POSSIBLE 9/10.

Alright. I knew nothing about this movie before I went into it. I'm a Godzilla fan but haven't really enjoyed the Western version of Godzilla movies beyond watching them as eye candy/cheap-thrill/forget-as-you-leave-cinema/switch-off-brain type movies.

Very rarely do we see GOOD movies that actually have a good plot and a storyline that sticks to quality script writing, screenplay and keeps you engaged for all the right reasons Vs Throwing a bunch of explosions, music and constant "something happening" to make up for lack of quality filmmaking.

Godzilla minus one... Is just a good movie. Japanese cinema slows things down and focuses on the quality of what's happening in the moment, in every moment. I was drawn to every part of the film and the story was about the humans with Godzilla in it, not about Godzilla.

I don't even know what to say. I don't want to say much. Don't go into it thinking "this is Godzilla a highly rated film".

Just go in, sit down and enjoy the ride.

I often watch low budget movies because the focus is on the story and not having a lot of pointless fillers to flesh out the movie.

This film does exactly that in a way that stays with you and leaves you thinking about the movie for days after you've watched it.

Highly recommended :)

Godzilla Minus One is an amazing spectacle on a retelling of a classic Kaiju movie from the prospective of a post-war Japanese veteran who leaves one horror for the next while making an arrangement of "friends and family" along the way. The story was so compelling that it didn't feel like two hours past and I was craving for more. The classic Godzilla sounds design, masterful cinematography, along with the original score from Akira Ifukube made this movie an absolute masterpiece on storytelling! The visuals of the Godzilla update made him more memorable and menacing for the citizens of a distraught Tokyo. Highly recommended!