There is good news and bad news when it comes to Godzilla: Minus Zero. The bad news is that it’s not quite as good as Godzilla: Minus One. The good news is that it’s still an excellent film, whether by monster movie standards or general movie standards. You might not walk out of this film feeling like it was life-changing, but your jaw will be on the floor, and your eyes may just have some tears in them.
Whether we’re talking about the original Godzilla, or Shin Godzilla, or the first Minus One, or even Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, this series has broached some dark territory. But Godzilla: Minus Zero might just be the darkest, most brutal entry in the series. While it doesn’t linger on the destruction in the same way as Minus One, the sheer horror in what happens on-screen might be the thing that makes the biggest impact in this film. This is not Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, nobody is “jumping for joy” here.
Possibly the strongest element of the film is the score by Naoki Sato. The main theme of the film, and Godzilla’s theme, stand out the most due to their recognizability and repetition, but the whole film has this ominous, grim tone that compliments the on-screen terror. The entire runtime the audience is left anticipating that something awful is going to happen at any moment, in part due to the music.
The special effects are also top-notch. Any flaws that may have been present in this department from the previous film have been wiped away. It feels like there has been a substantial upgrade in the budget. The monster designs are also quite spectacular. Godzilla looks even more imposing and powerful than before. It’s no secret that King Ghidorah is in this movie, and while this design won’t be anybody’s favorite design of this character, it just might be the scariest version of him that we have gotten to see.
The characters were a big part of what made Godzilla: Minus One so successful, and many of them return here. The things that happen to these characters are compelling, and their arcs in general are strong. However, the film is excessively melodramatic, and while this heightens the emotional weight of each scene, sometimes this comes at the expense of the characters’ individual personalities. For example, “Doc” Noda was perfectly balanced as a slightly comedic yet serious character in the previous film, whereas here at least some of that comedic charm is gone. Shikishima and Noriko, who were the heart of the previous film, are still strong here, but something is lost in translation. Some of what made them great characters previously is missing here, but they are still more than worthy protagonists.
What might disappoint viewers of this film the most is the loss of theme. There are two possibilities here. Either this movie lacks the presence of a grand, overarching concept that was so strong in the previous film, or I am too oblivious to recognize it. Either way, this leaves the film feeling plenty emotional but not so much purposeful. It feels like a reconstruction of the previous film without some core ingredients.
There is one element in which Minus Zero is a major improvement on Minus One, and that is the pacing. It is ironic, considering the monster action is extremely sparse in Minus Zero, but unlike in Minus One, there is zero wasted time. Yes, most of Minus One is crucial, but there is no doubting that the numerous scenes dedicated to the ludicrous plan bring down the pace a bit. Here, every scene has emotional weight, every scene is dramatic, and so even though the monster action is rare, we’re never tapping our feet waiting to get back to Godzilla and Ghidorah.
Godzilla: Minus Zero is better than the previous film in some ways, and inferior in other ways. It is ultimately a bit of a step down. But just like Back to the Future II, or Bride of Frankenstein, merely being a step down does not stop it from being excellent. Like those other two films, there are certainly going to be people who see this as superior to its predecessor, and some who are disappointed. What we have here is unambiguously an accomplishment, and it should be seen. It is probably in the all-time top-five of Godzilla films, even if it doesn’t contend for number one.
