Godzilla Minus One

I am very glad I saw this. The interesting thing is this movie is not a spectacle. Which all the Monsterverse movies are. There is plenty of big budget destruction, but your jaw doesn't drop and you don't say "Awesome!". It's devastating. The movie harkens back to the first film in showing the human costs of that level of devastation. And I will argue it's better because there are no misguided scientists present who want to protect Godzilla's life for further study. That specific controversy in the original film was always ridiculous, and I'm glad this film dropped it.

I don't remember the characters' specific names, and I'd get them wrong if I tried to spell them, and the end credits are in Japanese, so no help there. I'll refer to the characters by their roles rather than their names.

Aside from the tragic and human costs I found the protagonist an extremely morally gray character, and the entire setting and timeframe makes every character present morally gray. Every single person who fought in that war was on the side of Hitler. No exceptions. And the idea that the "coward" who refused to go on a Kamikaze run on the Axis' behalf isn't quite the moral failing everyone else thinks it is. Yes, he didn't do it for selfish and cowardly reasons. That wouldn't make him going through with it right.

I like that he's given the super happy ending at the end, although the last shot of Godzilla regenerating grated a bit. Can't we just enjoy THIS ,movie without planning for future ones? It's a nice movie. I would have enjoyed it better were I able to enjoy it entirely on its own terms. But the last shot means I have to judge it as the opening of a franchise, which annoys the hell out of me. I hate current cinema.

Godzilla is the bad guy. He's evil. The Monsterverse stuff is fun, but it is SUCH a fucking stretch for it to have Godzilla and King Kong wrecking all these cities and the producers framing them as humanity's protectors from even worse threats. I think the idea is neat. But I never remotely believe it, or think it makes sense. Godzilla being a pure evil bastard menace is more on-brand for the types of destruction we witness. Especially because the producers aren't asking us to go "Whoa!" or "Cool!".

I am not a huge Godzilla fan, but I thought it was very good. Probably the best of the films featuring Godzilla I HAVE seen, although maybe not. I haven't seen Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire yet, and I recall giving Godzilla Vs. Kong a rave. But that doesn't stop this film from being excellent. 4 1/2 stars.