Godzilla Minus One: The Most Human Godzilla Film

 

I had the privilege of being invited to a showing of Godzilla Minus One this past week. I'm thankful the trailers kept much of the content of the film a mystery. Upon finishing the film, one of my friends cheekily remarked, "Well of all the Godzilla movies, that was definitely one of them." Though this was partially in jest, we all agreed it was a pretty accurate statement. We all enjoyed the movie pretty equally. Now that I've had some time to ruminate, I will give you my more detailed thoughts.

I titled this review based on what I think is pretty accurate. Both thematically and in the literal narrative, this movie is a very human Godzilla movie. Depending on your point of view (probably the majority of Godzilla fans) this could potentially be a negative. Comments thrown towards kaiju films tend to be more negative if there isn't enough monster action, as that is the primary draw for these movies. Even so, the human stories have to take up some of the runtime, as special effects are costly and we would probably tire quickly of them if there was no context for the actions. I look to Michael Bay's Transformers series as the most obvious example. 

However, I have often enjoyed the varying human plots and would argue that since Godzilla films are very human in terms of their commentary. Cautionary tales of scientific progress and anti-war imagery is very much at the core of the series. It's why the original is one of my favorite movies. It manages to convey the effects of such devastation through the lens of a very effective monster and contributing effects, lighting, soundtrack ect.

This movie brings things back to the origins of why Godzilla movies were made, but making it even more personal. Our main character is a kamikaze pilot who did not want to die for supposed honor and avoids it. His fear for his own life interferes with his ability to fight against Godzilla in their initial encounter early in the film. He blames himself for the deaths of all the mechanics, although we know his plane's machine gun probably wouldn't need much of a difference. Guilt continues to follow him, as he is given the photographs of the families of all the victims by the only other survivor. Then he returns home to a war-torn town where he is made a scapegoat for the deaths of the civilians there. I would imagine this was a feeling many soldiers can attest to. 

As the plot progresses, our protagonist (Koichi), slowly begins to connect with others. He creates a family of sorts with a woman from the village and a baby they adopt. Though they become a family unit, Koichi refuses to fully commit to the idea and fully accept his role as a potential father and husband. In one tearful scene, he bluntly tells the young girl to stop referring to him as her father. Koichi doesn't seem to think he deserves to be happy or really to have a life at all. Godzilla acts here as a physical representation of the man's guilt and inability to move on from the trauma of the war. Godzilla is really more of a ghost or presence throughout much of the movie, basically haunting our hero. Even when he takes on a job to support his new family, it is a dangerous one, removing mines from the surrounding ocean. Once again, the remnants of the war haunt the man and the country. As if this isn't enough, our filmmakers continue to torture Koichi as Godzilla makes himself more present to the Japanese countryside, causing the devastation we expect. 

This certainly isn't the only movie to focus more on the suffering caused by the giant monster on a more personal level. I do think it is one of the ones that does it best. The characters in the film are all very believable and sympathetic. There are moments of humor, particularly from the former sailors who work with Koichi to destroy the old surrounding mines. They all have distinct personalities, but none of them misses the war. In fact, they all seem to be dealing with it in different ways. 

I do like how the sailors all band together as a rag-tag group of underdogs, taking on Godzilla directly without the aid of Russia or the United States. I think this was purporting the idea that Japan has to face its own demons and move past the aftereffects of war by itself. Koichi's personal struggles are mimicked by the people around him, so the message is pretty clear here. Not that this means that the struggle will be easy, but there is an undercurrent of hope despite the fairly bleak tone for most of the movie.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned Godzilla much yet. You may think that would be a problem in a Godzilla movie. Sometimes that is the case, but not really for me here. I suspect some take issue with it, but the human story is just so strong and emotionally palpable I really didn't notice much. When, Godzilla is on screen, he is used very effectively.  My favorite moments include his first appearance, where he hasn't been mutated by radiation but looks much more like a T-Rex esque dinosaur, his chasing our protagonists in their little excavation boat, and his heat ray causing explosions that look pretty similar to the destruction of a certain type of atomic weapon. 

I will say that in terms of design, Godzilla looks pretty standard compared to the slightly eldritch-looking being of Shin Godzilla. He looks good though and harkens back to the classic villainous presence of some of his films. It's Godzilla in classic fashion.

My only potential negatives in the movie might be in the direction it takes towards the end. With the tone of the film seeming pretty bleak and grounded (all things considered), I was expecting it to go a different direction than it did. Let's just say it has a much more happy ending than it seemed to be building up to...and then makes it even more uplifting. It bordered a little on the schmaltzy side, but I didn't mind too much as it felt like our heroes deserved a bit of a win. That being said, Koichi's final battle with Godzilla makes him one of the most awesome in Godzilla film history, even if I would have preferred a slightly more bittersweet resolution. 

Overall, I would honestly say that Godzilla Minus One is both very true to the idea of Godzilla (well one half of the series anyway) and also delving deeper in this regard than any previous film has. It is the most human Godzilla film and also one of the best. I still think I like Shin Godzilla a little more though, but that's a story for another time.

A

P.S. I didn't get the title towards the end of the movie. Even how they take Godzilla down is very unique. I have a strange desire for an Ice Godzilla action figure.