There is a lot of talk that Minus Zero is the Empire Strikes Back of Godzilla movies, basically a sequel that builds on and improves on the original. In this case the original in Godzilla Minus One, the 2023 Japanese made reboot of the classic monster series. I did go into Zero with high expectations both because of the strength of Minus One, and the early reactions. And I was not disappointed.
What makes both this film and its predecessor work for me, perhaps more than most Godzilla movies, including the Monsterverse series made in America, is how much the film focuses on its characters, their struggles, and makes you care for them in ways that most other films of this type just never reach. Young Nagatani may be the cutest crier of all cinema and she is a big reason the pathos here is as strong as it is. I think a part of what makes me agree Zero may be even better than One, is how much it builds on the relationships we saw in the first and come to are about even more here.
That doesn't mean the action sequences aren't top notch. When the film does turn to the set pieces they are spectacular. Again this raises the stakes from the previous film. This film's take on the classic monster Ghidorah is outstanding and I truly appreciate that Godzilla itself is a monster and not the hero protector American cinema is making him out to be. Sure there is room for that. I'm just glad Toho is going a different route here. This is a monster movie and it has monsters in it.
The final act totally had me and the film's ending, perhaps one of the best comparisons to the Empire Strikes Back, demands we see a third film. I hope Yamazaki completes a trilogy here cause there is more to this story and then the series can continue on cause this Godzilla timeline is one I am invested in.
Godzilla Minus Zero
Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Min Tanaka, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Masami Nagasawa, Sakura Ando, Sae Nagatani
Writer/Director: Takashi Yamazaki
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