Godzilla: Minus One is the newly released film by Toho Co., LTD, it was made by its original Japanese creators. Instead of continuing the previous Toho Godzilla movie, Shin Godzilla (2016) Toho decided It’s time to start fresh once again but not as fresh as you think. Godzilla Minus One takes you back to the OG days of the “Big G” where instead of being the big hero you see him in the newer American Legendary Pictures films or even the 1960’s Showa era of Godzilla. He is now brought back to his darker side where just like in the original 1954 Godzilla he is the living embodiment of the disasters that come with nuclear war.
Godzilla Minus One in a way is a retelling of the OG story the only difference being the legendary Serizawa is excluded from this film. When going into this movie I expected the same old boring human character story and the only thing worth noting is the parts with Godzilla, but I was so wrong. Because of the movie’s similarity with Godzilla (1954) the humans were actually most of the time the main focus. To anyone who’s seen the film they would see the clear emotional struggles our main character goes through. For a usually seen “cheesy monster film” this movie can be exceptionally emotional especially with themes such as war, loss, and depression.
The film due to its carbon copy nature from the original, did exceptionally well. With a budget of only $15 million in USD it broke the box office and made back $85.6 million, and received a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 8.4/10 on IMDb, beating any other movie releasing in November. (Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb) Godzilla himself was even nominated for a golden globe. Godzilla would quickly become the 6th highest grossing Japanese film in America. This was not an easy task due to the nature of most Americans’ perception of foreign films. History has repeated itself with the new film, much like the original 1954 film counterpart that also grossed a lot of money. Many fans including myself hope this only brings a new era to Godzilla or even modern Japanese films in America.
