One of the biggest — literally and figuratively — film stars in the world is back. Godzilla, who has graced movie screens for over seven decades, has returned with his latest effort, “Godzilla Minus Zero.” Talk about longevity! I remember Godzilla fighting King Kong oh-so-many years ago when I was a kid. And even though watching him now has a tinge of nostalgia, Godzilla manages to reinvent himself in ways that defy obsolescence. The big guy is working more than ever. Besides this new film, he showed up earlier this year in the second season of the Apple TV series, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” He is expected in the cinemas again next spring with “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova,” which is the American “monsterverse” spin on his formidable character. Prestige TV! Hollywood epics! Moody Japanese origin stories! He even looks better as he grows older. True, he has perhaps had some cosmetic help from improved CGI techniques, but his appearance has none of the botox rigidity or puffiness that has deformed other stars who have tried comparable procedures.
“Godzilla Minus Zero” is a sequel to the surprising 2023 hit, “Godzilla Minus One.” Taking place in Japan after World War II, the story of “Godzilla Minus One” centered on a Japanese pilot, Kōichi Shikishima, who behaved cowardly during combat, and who redeems himself by battling Godzilla when the monster attacks. The movie was a kind of prequel to the first “Godzilla” movie from way back in 1954, and its approach to the material was very serious. Made for a budget that was tiny when compared to its American counterparts, “Godzilla Minus One” became a solid critical and financial success, topping off its achievements with an Oscar for special effects. (Disgracefully, I think it’s the only Oscar Godzilla has ever won.)
Godzilla was defeated at the end of “Godzilla Minus One,” but his survival was hinted at during the final moments of that movie. “Godzilla Minus Zero” picks up in the year following Shikishima’s redemption, when the pilot has begun to settle into a comfortable routine with a wife and child. Japan is still recovering from the trauma of the war. Unfortunately, one of Godzilla’s fellow kaiju, Ghidorah, emerges from the ocean to wreak his own special brand of havoc. This opening sequence has all the grandeur and thrills you’d want from an IMAX Godzilla movie, except Godzilla.
After Ghidorah finishes his first attack, however, the movie abandons the monsters to concentrate on human dramas. (Which raises the question: what do kaiju do in the ocean in between their attacks? Just swim around? Hibernate in the water somehow? Plan vacations? Eat fish? They don’t seem to get along very well, so it’s unlikely they hang out together.) Since Shikishima’s personal demons had been conquered in the earlier film, a less powerful inner struggle has been concocted about his possible return to fighting monsters: he now has family obligations to fulfill, and he resists abandoning them.
Several other subplots supplement Shikishima’s dilemma. A female meteorologist has to contend with prejudice when she suggests tactics to defeat the monsters. Another scientist tries to figure out a way to use kaiju to destroy New York as revenge for America dropping the A-bomb during the war. Some victims of Godzilla’s rampages in “Godzilla Minus One,” including Shikishima’s wife, have been infected with an organism that causes distressing transformations to their bodies. And there’s even more.
None of the various complications have the emotional power of the redemption theme in “Godzilla Minus One.” Collectively they border on turgid, and they keep Ghidorah and a regenerated Godzilla from the action for almost an hour. There is an inordinate amount of crying in this movie. Crying children. Crying scientists. Crying victims. Almost all of it looks forced. It may be the wettest movie since “Titanic.”
Finally, the movie delivers a couple of satisfying, extended scenes of destruction. Ghidorah, single-headed in his first attack, grows his mandatory second and third heads. He and Godzilla are manipulated into fighting one another. Oddly, unlike creatures in other movies that often go after humans as food or for some sort of militarist goal, these guys destroy cities or injure one another just for the hell of it. A kaiju’s gotta do what a kaiju’s gotta do. In any case, when Godzilla and Ghidorah tangle, the movie really soars, sometimes literally, since the monsters are often airborne. I was really entranced by the gigantism of it all, particularly when mid-century aircraft are used to subdue the monsters. These flying fortresses look splendid in IMAX.
In the end, the sober approach to material that was so effective in “Godzilla Minus One” is less so here. The human dramas lack punch. Nevertheless, if you have the opportunity to watch “Godzilla Minus Zero” in IMAX, I’m reasonably certain you will feel you’ve gotten your money’s worth of spectacle when the monsters (and airplanes) are onscreen. One more time, Godzilla proves that star quality can be reason enough to go to a movie.
Godzilla Minus Zero Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Starring Minami Hamabe, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Masami Nagasawa, Jun Kunimura, Hidetaka Yoshioka. Rated:R. Running Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes. Genres: Action, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
