Godzilla Minus One (2023) Review

Greetings, movie lovers.

At a point, I just got tired of watching movies featuring giant creatures because the stories behind their appearances or their mass destruction are not properly laid out or too computerized in the films. That was the same mindset I had when I decided to give "Godzilla Minus One" a shot after seeing the poster and realizing it was an Asian movie—Japanese, to be precise. I just knew the story and the presentation were going to appear more original and not overloaded with computerized scenes, as we often see in most Godzilla and King Kong movies.

This is a 2023 Japanese movie.

This movie started on a good note, filled with suspense and a strong urge to watch till the end.

A group of soldiers, after a fiery war, settled in a base surrounded by a large ocean. One night, while they were going about their duties, their alarm rang. When they picked up their guns—thinking it was an enemy flying down from an airplane or coming from a ship to attack them—they saw a giant creature, roaring and walking out of the ocean. They didn’t know what the creature was or have any idea about it; it was actually their first time seeing such a being.

They ran to take cover. One of them guessed that it could be Godzilla, a creature that once terrorized their country in the days of their forefathers—something he had learned about from stories passed down to him.
As they tried to hide, the creature, in its massive nature, was uncovering everything with just a step. They tried to shoot with their local guns, but it was no use; Godzilla’s body was impenetrable.

Shikishima, who owned a jet equipped with a 20mm gun capable of penetrating the giant’s body, was begged to get to his jet and shoot at it. He managed to reach the jet, but out of fear, he couldn’t fire. At the end of that first scene, only Shikishima and one mechanic survived, while Godzilla walked back into the sea.

This is just one of the first scenes in the movie that got me glued to my phone because I knew I had a very entertaining journey ahead. With how fierce and unkillable the creature appeared, I was very eager to see how they would defeat it in the end.
The Godzilla in this movie is so original—one could see how the soil reacted when it stepped on it, with its legs covered in sand. The gummy saliva in its mouth when it opened its jaws looked so real. It just appeared so authentic that one could begin to think that was the real Godzilla(real life) used for the film.

The movie’s setting is also eye-catching; it’s done in a village setting, a place wrecked with hunger as an aftermath of the war.

Shikishima, who survived the initial attack, returned to his village only to see it totally destroyed—his parents were killed, and their house was burnt down. He managed to survive, though in the midst of depression, even when Noriko—the lady with the baby, Akiko, whom she had been entrusted with by her dying parents—walked into his life. He took it upon himself to provide for them like a father and husband. He accepted a dangerous job of detecting and destroying mines in the water, and that’s when he came across the creature again for the second time. He vowed to kill it himself, even though it seemed totally impossible.

The second appearance of Godzilla was massive, as it walked into the city and destroyed structures—still unkillable, as no bullet could penetrate its body. Things got so intense that even when it got wounded, its injuries would heal back quickly.

Did they kill it in the end? I know you're seeing the end already but I'd like to disappoint you 😏. Go and watch it and see.

More opinions and rating;
I know I have said a lot already, but I can't conclude without hitting hard on the same usual story about the appearance of these creatures. I think there should be a supernatural attachment to such things. Or is it just me that's thinking far?
In this story, nothing was said about the sudden appearance of the creature. How was it provoked? Nothing!

Well, it's still a good movie, and I would rate it an 8/10.

Trailer;

Thanks for reading.

Thumbnail photo: imdb

Other photos: screenshots