Japanese kaiju film Godzilla Minus One proved to be a big hit not only with fans of the long-running Godzilla franchise but with a more general audience, which resulted in an extended theatrical run for the movie when it was released in 2023.
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus One earned over $100 million worldwide, outshining its production budget of approximately $15 million.
So, you could say we’ve certainly come a long way since the first Godzilla film, titled Gojira (Godzilla), was released in Japan in late 1954.
While the monster scenes in Godzilla Minus One often outclass the human actors, the 125-minute-long film has been largely applauded by critics and more general audiences outside of Godzilla fandom, especially over its visual effects, which saw it awarded an Oscar at the 2024 Academy Awards.
The movie is set in the aftermath of World War II, during Japan’s period of recovery, with the weakened nation facing the destructive arrival of Godzilla, who has been super-enhanced by nuclear bomb testing.
For a sample of what the critics have to say about Godzilla Minus One, see below.
JUDGEMENT
“Godzilla Minus One is the throwback movie that longtime Godzilla fans have been waiting for. This is an age of abundance for Godzilla media: Over the past seven years, as part of a partnership between Toho and Hollywood studios, the giant lizard received three animated films on Netflix, two U.S. movies, and an Apple TV series that premieres Nov. 17. Godzilla fans like me haven’t been left wanting. And yet something crucial has been missing from most of this media, something fundamental to the earliest films in the Godzilla franchise: terror.” Chris Plante, Polygon
“The gnarly VFX work on big G is a scary halfway point between his classic design, with his more jagged appearance and bulging eyes, and dorsal fins and other embellishments that bring him closer in line with more modern takes on the character. Such details feel tactile — the scales look mean and jagged, like obsidian — so that when he chases after a boat, it almost looks like a more detailed, Jaws-style animatronic; in some moments it feels like watching miniatures. The rest of the effects-work feels similarly stylised, switching between terrifying realism and wild spectacle on a dime. As with Shin Godzilla before it, it’s delightful to see a monster film that is equally as interested in creating a specific mood with its effects-work — rather than just effects for effects’ sake.” Kambole Campbell, empireonline.com
“It’s truly astonishing to see what has been achieved here on simply a surface level. In an age where blockbusters are costing more and more to produce (multiple examples from 2023 alone include new entries in the Indiana Jones and Ant-Man franchises), Yamazaki manages to craft one of the most aesthetically striking blockbusters of the past few years on a budget equivalent to just $15 million. The sense of scale created here cannot be understated: the action sequences are thrilling and monstrously terrifying, with the titular monster portrayed in a way that feels both familiar and totally unlike anything you’ve seen before, thanks to some astounding VFX work.” Jack Murphy, Film Ireland
“As with many Godzilla movies, there could be more Godzilla in Minus One. Instead, the focus is on character development – namely, Shikishima’s arc from wartime coward to kaiju-fighting hero and family man. The film only sags a bit in the middle, between Godzilla-driven set pieces, and overall the mood is much more hopeful than in the cynical Shin Godzilla. There’s more swell, in the score and on the heart strings; there’s less terror and more pride, even (or perhaps especially) while evoking a vulnerable period in Japan’s history. This is a film designed to make audiences stand up and cheer – and when Akira Ifukube’s Godzilla theme kicks in, it’s difficult not to comply.” Katie Rife, IGN
“Godzilla Minus One is a well-calibrated popcorn movie, and you can hear it in the way that its creators play up fan favorite devices and associations. It’s an event when he roars or deploys his fire breath for the first time in this movie. Godzilla fans will probably also feel appropriately flattered by the strategic use of a few song cues from Akira Ifukube’s now iconic Gojira score.” Simon Abrams, rogerebert.com
“Though this Godzilla is massive, Yamazaki puts emphasis on the creature’s aquatic grace and unimaginable physical strength in scenes set on the high seas where countless sailors meet their bitter ends. But it isn’t until the Minus One’s fully evolved Godzilla makes landfall that you can see how, for all of its modern filmmaking sensibilities, Yamazaki has still made a spectacular disaster movie in Toho’s classic style that blends digital, practical, and sometimes cheesy effects together to create a finished product that feels more than the sum of its parts.” Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge
