Movie Review: GODZILLA MINUS ZERO

Japanese Writer/Director Takashi Yamazaki has gotten the formula for making a good Godzilla movie down. He showed us he knew what he was doing with the Oscar Winning - GODZILLA MINUS ONE and has proven that the first one was no fluke with the sequel GODZILLA MINUS ZERO.

What is his formula? You don’t focus on the monsters, you focus on the people.

It worked in the first one because when Godzilla showed up, the people of Japan were just coming out of the devastation of World War II. In this sequel, not only are the people of Japan coming out of the devastation of World War II but also the devastation of the attacks from Godzilla in the first film when ANOTHER monster (this time the 3 headed dragon King Ghidorah) shows up to wreak havoc upon Japan. Could the thought-dead Godzilla come to save them?

What do you think?

But that’s not really the story here. Sure, Godzilla and King Ghidorah battle, but the film focuses on the emotions/torment and broken psyches of the Japanese people on the ground that just happen to be trying to heal as these two monsters battle in the background.

It’s a surprisingly effective way to tell this story, for when the Monsters attack - and attack they do - it is even MORE devastating than if we were just watching giant puppets and/or CGI creatures do “smashy-smashy” things.

Writer/Director Yamazaki brings back Minami Hamabe and Ryunosuke Kamiki from the first film as put upon lovers thrust together in this climate of devastation and they carry most of the emotional heft of this film - and they carry it well.

Also back is Hidetaka Yoshioka as the scientist who figures out what is going on and how to deal with it (and has most of the techno-babble to boot) - this time he is joined by a young, female Meteorologist (Masami Aoyama) who is a bit naive but smart as a whip and an older scientist (Kanji Murakami) who is a bit of curmudgeon and carries more than just a bit of baggage from World War II.

Oh, and special notice needs to be made of Miou Tanaka as a tough, boots-on-the ground “I don’t know how, but I’ll get the equipment fixed and working just in time” type of character who almost singlehandedly carries the climax of the film.

But, of course, there are also the Monster battle scenes - and they are incredibly well done (especially considering that they were produced on a smaller budget than is usually given these types of films). All 3 major monster-fighting scenes are top-notch with the middle scene (shown through the eyes of a pilot) is as intense and gripping as they come.

A worthy sequel that builds on - and grows - the franchise/mythology from the first movie while also paying a bit of homage to all the Godzilla-type films that came before.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)