Hello, I’m Fred and welcome to Fredflix, Schenectady High’s best film reviewer. Today we will be looking at Godzilla Minus One which was released on Dec. 1. 

In all honesty, this is my first time watching a Godzilla movie that was made in Japan. While I’m semi fond of the American ones, I never got into the original ones, which started in 1954 with Gojira. After finally watching my first Japanese Godzilla movie, all I can say is that America has a long way to catch up. The American Godzilla movies have good visual effects, but terrible characters. They try to get you interested in what Millie Bobby Brown’s character is doing, but the whole time you’re just waiting for the big lizard to show up. 

Godzilla Minus One solved that problem by making one of the most compelling characters I’ve seen in film this year. The idea of making the lead a post war Kamikaze pilot in his 20’s allows the movie to go for a much more mature story then you would expect from a big blockbuster.  Kōichi is a sympathetic lead that keeps you engaged with his tragic backstory and amazing performance.

The film deals with PTSD and analyzes post war Japan in the 1940’s. Yeah, they do that in a Godzilla movie. They look at the original purpose of Godzilla and expand it to something I could’ve never imagined it would go to.  

And I know some of you just want to see a big lizard destroy buildings. Don’t worry, the big lizard action is some of the best I’ve ever seen. Instead of seeing Godzilla be a hero to humanity, we see him as a massive threat. 

The creators of the latest movie also found a way to make a modern Godzilla movie terrifying, which I did not think was possible in this era. A Godzilla movie that made me want to cry and that made me terrified. 

Overall, Godzilla Minus One is a crowning achievement in the Godzilla franchise that proves a big monster movie can still be interesting when the monster isn’t on screen. 

Score: 9/10 (highly recommended)