Godzilla Minus Zero (2026)
Godzilla Minus One from 2023 is a very special film. Not only is it the
highest-grossing Japanese-produced Godzilla movie of all time, but it is
the first Godzilla movie to be nominated and win an Academy Award (Best
Visual Effects). It also garnered critical acclaim upon its release. This
critic still feels that it is the best Godzilla film that has ever been made,
even better than the 1954 original, Gojira.
The
new direct sequel to Minus One, titled Godzilla Minus Zero, has a
lot to live up to. Perhaps it was an impossible goal because Minus Zero
falls short of surpassing or even being equal to its predecessor.
Takashi
Yamazaki, the filmmaker behind Minus One, returns to write, direct, and
create the visual effects for this sequel, which opens with a blast as a
creature resembling a dragon attacks a city in Japan. Attempts to destroy the
monster only leads to the beast morphing into a three-headed hydra who is
coined King Ghidorah. The reptilian Godzilla also appears again, two years
after it was supposedly destroyed in 1947. Japan's scientists and military
agree that the best course of action is for these two monsters to fight, hoping
that one will be killed and that the remaining one will be so weakened that the
military can easily take it out.
Kōichi
Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), the former kamikaze pilot, returns to help
battle Godzilla along with the new threat. His now wife, Noriko (Minami
Hamabe), who survived a Godzilla attack, is showing physical mutations because
of her exposure to Godzilla's cells. She also seems to have a psychic link of
sorts to the creature.
Minus One
skillfully balanced compelling human drama and character development against
spectacular monster action. Here, in Minus Zero, we get much, much more
human drama, but it's not as emotionally gripping as it was in the previous
film. Also, Godzilla is hardly in this movie, and the battle royale between
Godzilla and King Ghidorah is all too brief.
The
best sequence in Minus Zero happens early on in the picture. In an attempt
to kill King Ghidorah with a new fuel-air bomb, we see fighter planes evading the
winged creature. This is the most exciting scene in the movie.
Godzilla Minus Zero is moderately entertaining and still far better than the
1998 American made Godzilla or the 1969 Japanese cheapo clip show All
Monsters Attack, AKA Godzilla's Revenge.
