GODZILLA: MINUS ONE (2023)
It feels like just a few months ago that the news of another film in Toho's Godzilla series broke. But it's here and has been given a theatrical release relatively quickly compared to something like Shin Ultraman. It's a brand recognition thing but I can hardly complain. While the Legendary Pictures iteration is pushing forward into an ever larger franchise, the original Big G has been dormant for a long time (not counting short films of course). Which means that they've had time to consider what the film has to say beyond the spectacle. Not that there aren't disaster scenes in this latest addition to the series, but what they've done with a considerably smaller budget has far more weight and nuance.
So let's talk about Godzilla as a creature. Generally speaking the big brute isn't often a villain in any direct sense. There are times when the stories treat him as an ecological disaster, a rampaging animal, or even as a hero (or a father). Beyond the 2001 version which went into a supernatural realm, Godzilla isn't mean spirited most of the time. Even with the angry eyebrows. But this time they've gone to some lengths to make sure it's clear that he's a malevolent force. As ever there's always room to argue that it's all an analogue for nuclear war, or even war itself, but the film-makers seem to have wanted to make one thing clear; here Godzilla is monstrous. He's a truly threatening figure rather than simply an antagonistic problem to be fought against.
The real question is whether the victims of an atomic super-being deserve to be trapped in a post-war hell. Is this the fault of Koichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki) for retreating from a suicide mission and panicking on Odo Island? Is there blame to be apportioned to the absent Japanese government, the Americans running nuclear weapons tests, or the veterans involved in the war? Thanks to a late 1940s setting all of these ideas can be considered in a tale of survivor's guilt, news blackouts, and poverty. It's a smaller story focusing on one main band of survivors, but direct references to Operation Castle and US-Soviet tensions give it a wider context, resulting in a confined dread filled atmosphere. The ordinary people are detached from these bigger events and powerless to avoid tragedy.
Koichi has nobody left and nothing to live for after returning home, while Noriko (Minami Hamabe) is a thief unable to feed a child that she found. Many of the characters are orphaned and isolated, unable to become emotionally involved, or unwilling to see past ideas of death and glory. Ghosts from the war hang around Koichi's ruined home in the form of shrines to the dead and photos of those who didn't get a funeral. Eventually some semblance of a family is achieved through relationships with neighbours and colleagues, but there's also a feeling that some things can't be mended. Which is odd to admit in a Godzilla film; a series often criticised for having un-engaging human characters.
As a result the whole story is often a rather fast paced and stressful experience. It has a tendency to veer into melodrama every so often, but sentimental moments are general squashed by cruel twists of fate and mental breakdowns. Camaraderie on a mine sweeping boat is disrupted by legitimately sinister monster attacks. New developments in the local economy are flattened in a similar fashion. Even the typically impotent counter-attacks are wiped out before any rousing military music can come along. Akira Ifukube's Godzilla themes (and oddly one from his 1960s King Kong) are contrasted with eerie minimalist tracks from Naoki Sato that amplify the haunting nature of these events. Nothing will ever be as distressing as certain scenes from 1954, but it's often shocking in its own way.
On the other hand it has to be said the that monster sequences, while often dark (tonally that is), are all pretty engrossing. Miniatures have been abandoned entirely after Shin Godzilla but the action is very visceral and has a lot of weight. Godzilla feels very heavy and unstoppable, while the newest city blocks and the biggest naval vessels are fragile. Nods to Honda's original, involving a train a news crew, are mixed with searing new variations on the atomic heat ray. It's perhaps strange to see blockbuster set pieces, some influenced by Stephen Spielberg, amongst such large scale tragedy. But the results, even with a miniscule budget, will likely entertain and disturb general audiences.
However, the major events and character arcs aren't all nihilistic, even if it lacks the frequent series theme of international co-operation. It's generally (if not always overtly) anti-authority and anti-war, but the resolution does end up being centred around the everyday people having to work together. It's an interesting mixture of simple human willpower and complicated plans against a seemingly invulnerable opponent. Since the top officials and scientific geniuses are absent it's up to average sailors and engineers, some who have seen enough horror already, to find a way forward. Is the overall message one of optimism or is it all a useless effort? That's just one last question the story will leave you to consider.
Many would like to see a modern Toho produced version of Destroy All Monsters. But the reality is that when something this measured comes along it's hard to miss those classic brawls. They could go back to alien invaders and monster tag-teams but it would probably weaken the official version of Godzilla at this stage. There's no point turning it back into a parody or a schlock filled B-movie homage when another unique idea could be explored. Which isn't to say that there's anything particularly new here, but it's more than the sum of these parts. Besides, if each film is an individual story then they can be watched for what they are rather than merely as part of a never-ending sequel fest.
Minus One isn't perfect but it's certainly an effective take on the material, something that everyone, long term fans or not, should check out. The pacing in the third act when it starts to get into briefings and plans is a little off, and some of the late game twists are clearly telegraphed. But other moments are genuinely surprising whether they're character or action centric scenes. Simply as a colossal, often chilling, disaster movie it delivers. But as a story in which a giant monster could be viewed as a symbol of personal fears and self hatred, a film about the real meaning of sacrifice and bravery, or a tale of individuals being failed by faceless government bodies, it's got a lot going for it.
4/5
