It seemed that out of nowhere came Godzilla: Minus One, a tried and true Japanese Godzilla film released by Toho Studios and the first of its kind back in theaters since 2016’s Shin Godzilla. The reviews I saw were phenomenal, some even saying that it’s the best, closest thing to a perfect Godzilla movie that’s ever been released, so I thought I would give it a shot. I assure you, however good you think the movie will be before you see it, it’s ten times better, simply amazing. 

I’m used to the American “anti-hero” Godzilla, full of crazy (and somewhat terrible) special effects and awful characters. Minus One completely blows any of the American Godzilla films right out of the park. The film follows Kōichi, an ex-kamikaze pilot, who fails to complete his mission and is shamed when he comes back from war. Noriko, a survivor of the war whose parents died in the bombings, is taking care of an orphaned girl named Akiko. Together Nokiro and Kōichi have to work to raise Akiko and thrive during this hard time for their country. The characters in this film are what really make it, the American films have never had interesting or relatable characters, they were often just there to pass time between scenes with Godzilla or other monsters. The characters’ struggle in Minus One makes us want them to win, to succeed, because they’re just trying to survive and thrive and the audience can’t help but root for them throughout the entire film, because they see the characters have to face their demons. This is the first time I’ve seen a Godzilla film where its most powerful scenes don’t even have the monster in them. 

Of course, the most epic part of the film was Godzilla himself, his stature, his demeanor, his nuclear breath, everything was amazing. This Godzilla has brought an element to the monster that I had never seen before in the American adaptations: horror. Godzilla is simply scary in this film, you get chills as you watch the creature strut down the streets of Tokyo, destroying everything in its path. The most amazing thing about this film was the budget it cost to make it, 15 million dollars was all that was spent. Hollywood should be ashamed of what they’ve been putting out over the last few years. Hollywood movies with ten times that budget are nowhere close to the level of realistic CGI and amazing storytelling this film has to offer. Hollywood thinks if they just put a lot of money into a film and give it a bunch of flashy effects it will succeed, but it hasn’t for a while now. Godzilla Minus One proves that you don’t need hundreds of millions of dollars to make an amazing action film you need a great story with great characters, that’s it. It’s not just a film about a monster: it’s about love, recovery, revenge, heartbreak, and triumph.