“Godzilla Minus One” was a great movie that just so happened to be about an overgrown, fire-breathing lizard.
“Godzilla Minus Zero” is a great Godzilla movie, but it’s dramatically inferior to the 2023 film.
Yes, writer/director Takashi Yamazaki’s “One” benefited from understandably low expectations the first time around. If you’re weaned on those badly dubbed films of yore, featuring a dude in a rubber suit, any serious approach to the classic monster mattered.
The 2023 film was much more than that, delivering on sobering themes tied to war, survival and patriotism. The sequel can’t equal that achievement, from its silly plotting to hammy performances. It’s still superior to 98 percent of Godzilla features, showcasing Yamazaki’s stunning knack for blockbuster visuals.
In short, we’ll take it.
The action picks up in 1949, a time when a new, monstrous threat is rampaging across Japan. It’s Ghidorah, a flying creature that poses an existential threat to anything in its path.
Mankind’s best weapons can’t seem to stop it, and scientists struggle to prevent its next, devastating attack. Could the answer be found in the creature presumably killed in the 2023 film (AKA the beastie in the film’s title)?
The powers that be behind the movie begged critics to avoid as many spoilers as possible, and HiT is happy to oblige.
The story brings back heroic pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), now living in domestic bliss with Noriko (Minami Hamabe) and their adopted daughter Akiko (Sae Nagatani). They want no part of any plan to stop Ghidorah, happy to resume their lives after the catastrophic events of the first film.
If only it were that simple.
Kenji “Doc” Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) is the leader of the anti-Ghidorah resistance, a colorful soul who captures the hyperactive acting style embodied throughout the film.
“Godzilla Minus One” offered a compelling story grafted onto a monster movie template. Here, that alchemy is far less assured. The script teeters between simplistic and silly, and the emotional stakes take a good amount of time to bloom.
The monster sequences still amaze, from the aerial battles between Ghidorah and Japanese pilots to the city-stomping attacks that send thousands fleeing for their lives.
Both films emphasize the loss of life and devastation wrought by these creatures, a vital part of their success.
Once again, we confront the fallout from World War II, the toll felt by the survivors of World War II and other elements lacking in past Godzilla features. The delivery can be clunky, though, and some potentially meaty subplots are lazily sketched out.
Some darker topics, like what it means on a human scale to control the weapons of war, also struggle to land.
You won’t have to look hard to see the film’s dubious take on America, understandable given the Allies recently put Japan’s war efforts down with two nuclear explosions.
That leaves an impeccably crafted monster movie, one that knows what fans want and delivers. The film’s score revives the stirring anthem from “Godzilla Minus One,” featured in a battle that will give goosebumps to anyone weaned on Toho’s OG Godzilla.
Kudos to composer Naoki Satō, who once again slathers a fresh coat of paint on Akira Ifukube’s original Godzilla music.
You’ll feel like a kid again, and for that reason alone, “Godzilla Minus Zero” is well worth your time.
HiT or Miss: 3 out of 5 stars
Genre: Science fiction/thriller
Runtime: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Where to Watch: In theaters Nov. 6
Family Friendly? R (Gore, violence and mature themes)