The Japanese masterpiece Godzilla Minus One gets a sequel that is a bit of a downgrade. The beasts rule in Godzilla Minus Zero—but the drama side is sometimes painfully bad.
What made One so good wasn’t just the excellent monster effects (which won an Oscar); the movie also had an intriguing depth to it, playing on the scarring effects of nuclear bombs dropped upon Japan in World War II. Some of the melodramatic elements were a bit overwrought, but director Takashi Yamazaki kept a nice balance and delivered a brainy, brawny chapter to the Godzilla franchise.
Godzilla Minus Zero starts masterfully, with the iconic King Ghidorah monster making a stage-one appearance, much like the pre-gargantuan appearance of Godzilla in Zero. When King Ghidorah transforms into multiheaded dragon-like beast, the film is just as good as its predecessor—for a moment.
When the film moves away from the monsters and starts dealing with humans, the results are far more frustrating. And often annoying.
By the time Akiko (Sae Nagatani)—the child at the center of much of the human action—was wailing in the film’s final scenes, I, too, was crying for mercy. I’d had enough. It was being determined whether she would be left behind in an orphanage, and I was rooting for the kid to be kept there. Sorry, this is a kid who cannot act.
Minami Hamabe returns as Noriko, who narrowly escaped death in the first film and now has some Godzilla DNA in her. This element of this story is completely moronic and reminds of some of the stumbles the American Godzilla franchise made in Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
Of course, the humans devise a way for the mighty Godzilla to battle King Ghidorah. This one is mostly about the humans, with Godzilla himself taking up just a smidgen of the running time. (He might actually have more total screen time in the sequel than he did in the original, but it feels like less. That’s a testament to how good the first film was.)
The final big kaiju smackdown is so good that it made me forgive some of the schmaltz that happened before it. Ghidorah is legit terrifying, and the film earns its R rating with intense violence and a lot of blood: Many people get stomped and incinerated. While this isn’t the best Godzilla movie, it may be the nastiest. This is far, far away from the Godzilla of the ’60s and ’70s.
The depiction of Americans in the movie—a bunch of soldiers with “What are you looking at?” faces—is pretty hilarious. The film tries to delve into lingering resentment about Hiroshima, but it isn’t as effective as One in this realm. Granted, living up to One is a tall order, since it was a masterpiece.
Despite its flaws, Godzilla Minus Zero is still one of the better Godzilla movies of the many that have been made. Filmmakers either need to shorten things up the next time out, or add about 25% more monster action. Less time spent on kids crying—especially in a way that makes you want to toss your popcorn at the screen—would be nice.
The film had the biggest-ever opening weekend for a live-action foreign film and will more than likely outdo its predecessor’s box office. The ending leaves things open for this storyline to continue. If it does indeed go on, it needs a bigger budget for more monster action—and less humans overacting.