2023 didn't have a lot of cinematic stories to celebrate outside of the Barbenheimer craze that swept the cinema scene across the globe but one of the rare positives was the surprising success of the Japanese Oscar winning Godzilla Minus One which managed to secure over $100 million dollars the worldwide box office.
Working off a budget that has been estimated to be no more than $15 million, Minus One was virtually made for the catering budget of a big Hollywood monsterverse film with Takashi Yamazaki's passion project showcasing to all that there's life still in the Godzilla brand and that not every film needs to have exorbitant budgets allocated to them to make them feel like an "event" picture.
It's hard to say without doubt that the world needed yet another Godzilla film, with 38 officially sanctioned Godzilla films having made their way into the public realm since the first venture was released all the way back in 1954 but with Yamazaki and his team allowing their Godzilla offering to focus on and around the human element more than the eye-candy or giant lizard element, Minus One manages to (pardon the pun) breathe new blue life into a property that had long grown stagnant in many of its ideas and deliveries.
Set in the tail end of World War 2 and spanning the immediate years following the aftermath of Japan's surrender and rebuilding, Minus One covers a lot of ground in its two hour runtime as we are given significant time with Ryunosuke Kamiki's one time kamikaze fighter pilot Koichi Shikishima who is struggling to come to terms with his time in the war and new life, made all the more difficult by the arrival of a supercharged Godzilla who appears destined to cause more pain on Japan if he isn't stopped.
A film whose inventive almost Dunkirk like set-pieces and character beats are best left discovered by unsuspecting viewers, Minus One neatly balances spectacle with heart, no better displayed than a stunning segment featuring Godzilla's first large-scale public land appearance, offering up an experience that is sure to appease diehard fans and newbies alike while also gifting jaded Godzilla sufferers something to get excited about rather than more of Hollywood's recent lazy Godzilla entries.
There are clear flaws to this critical lauded and audience favourite, some of the films script work leaves a lot to be desired while some of the performances in the film are wildly overplayed but the flaws on display aren't enough to stop one from having a great time with a film that against all the odds proves there's more still to mine from the Godzilla space that for years has felt like it was entirely depleted.
Final Say -
A masterwork of low budget film-making masquerading as a major tentpole event, Godzilla Minus One isn't perfect but it's absolutely one of the best Godzilla films we've ever had and a far better example of savvy filmmaking than many recent Hollywood efforts that have been shown up badly by this surprising success story.
3 1/2 wooden boats out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)
Working off a budget that has been estimated to be no more than $15 million, Minus One was virtually made for the catering budget of a big Hollywood monsterverse film with Takashi Yamazaki's passion project showcasing to all that there's life still in the Godzilla brand and that not every film needs to have exorbitant budgets allocated to them to make them feel like an "event" picture.
It's hard to say without doubt that the world needed yet another Godzilla film, with 38 officially sanctioned Godzilla films having made their way into the public realm since the first venture was released all the way back in 1954 but with Yamazaki and his team allowing their Godzilla offering to focus on and around the human element more than the eye-candy or giant lizard element, Minus One manages to (pardon the pun) breathe new blue life into a property that had long grown stagnant in many of its ideas and deliveries.
Set in the tail end of World War 2 and spanning the immediate years following the aftermath of Japan's surrender and rebuilding, Minus One covers a lot of ground in its two hour runtime as we are given significant time with Ryunosuke Kamiki's one time kamikaze fighter pilot Koichi Shikishima who is struggling to come to terms with his time in the war and new life, made all the more difficult by the arrival of a supercharged Godzilla who appears destined to cause more pain on Japan if he isn't stopped.
A film whose inventive almost Dunkirk like set-pieces and character beats are best left discovered by unsuspecting viewers, Minus One neatly balances spectacle with heart, no better displayed than a stunning segment featuring Godzilla's first large-scale public land appearance, offering up an experience that is sure to appease diehard fans and newbies alike while also gifting jaded Godzilla sufferers something to get excited about rather than more of Hollywood's recent lazy Godzilla entries.
There are clear flaws to this critical lauded and audience favourite, some of the films script work leaves a lot to be desired while some of the performances in the film are wildly overplayed but the flaws on display aren't enough to stop one from having a great time with a film that against all the odds proves there's more still to mine from the Godzilla space that for years has felt like it was entirely depleted.
Final Say -
A masterwork of low budget film-making masquerading as a major tentpole event, Godzilla Minus One isn't perfect but it's absolutely one of the best Godzilla films we've ever had and a far better example of savvy filmmaking than many recent Hollywood efforts that have been shown up badly by this surprising success story.
3 1/2 wooden boats out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)
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