Godzilla Minus Zero
by Hope Madden
Three years ago, Toho and filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki took an oft told kaiju tale back to its roots to produce the best Godzilla movie since Ishirō Honda’s 1954 original. Godzilla Minus One balanced destruction with reflection, boasted inspired visuals, and became one of the best films of 2023.
So, most of us were pretty geeked to find that Yamazaki planned a sequel. Godzilla Minus Zero revisits the hard-scrabble gang that finally put the old lizard to rest just in time to figure out how to deal with a new threat. Oh, plus Godzilla, because what fun would be a new giant monster if we didn’t also get a visit from the OG?
Minami Hamabe and Ryûnosuke Kamika, so dramatically reunited in the final moments of Minus One, are living a simple but happy life as a family with little Akiko (Sae Negatani). But will each be willing to sacrifice that happiness when monsters again come calling?
Yamazaki’s bolder in his depiction of a conniving war machine and more overt in the acknowledgment that not all is actually fair in war, which, his films point out, the Japanese know better than most. As with the previous effort, Godzilla Minus Zero ensures that the living memory of WWII exists within Godzilla, as it did when he first reared his ugly head.
Yamazaki, who is again also credited with VFX work, is not afraid to show you your monsters. I like this about him. Crisp, beautifully detailed, clearly articulated kaiju run amok in his sequel, and they look great.
The film itself can’t conjure the destructive beauty of Minus One, though. There were scenes in that film—the boat chase, the train car window—that took your breath away. Minus Zero looks good, but there’s no such wonderment this go-round.
The human drama, which gave the previous installment its emotional pull, feels more forced this time, with characters making decisions that seem out of step with the people we witnessed just a couple of years ago.
The storyline and its internal logic are weaker for Minus Zero as well, and as contrivances begin to pile up, it’s tough not to feel disappointed with the sequel.
