Godzilla Minus Zero is a perfect sequel. It’s big, thrilling, gorgeous, and makes an excellent companion to its Oscar-winning predecessor. The story pays off everything left open by that previous film while also amping up the action, adding new characters, digging deeper into the originals, and ultimately leaving its world with more places to go, if it so chooses. The 2023 original is probably slightly superior, but this is pretty damn close.
Once again written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus Zero is set two years after the events of Godzilla Minus One. As Japan is finally getting back to normal after both a World War and a Godzilla attack, a new threat emerges. Godzilla is believed to be gone, but another giant monster has arrived, and all your favorite characters come together to try to solve the problem.
That includes former kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), his now-wife Noriko (Minami Hamabe), friend and weapons engineer Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), as well as new characters like scientist and Hiroshima survivor Kanji (Min Tanaka) and genius meteorologist Makoto (Masami Nagasawa). Plus, obviously, Godzilla comes back too. So they hatch a plan to save Japan not just from this new threat, but the old one as well.
There’s a lot more to the plot, but we won’t spoil it here. Mostly because this time around, the film is almost wholly driven by that plot more than anything else. In Godzilla Minus One, character was key, and almost all of it centered on Shikishima. We desperately yearned to cheer for him, but he made it difficult as he dealt with personal shame and cowardice. Two things that, by the end, he conquers, becoming the hero we wanted him to be all along.
And so, in this film, he’s already a hero. He’s defeated his demons, finding peace and harmony not just with his friends but his found family. As a result, there’s just not as much emotional baggage around him this time around. Instead, we get those crucial, thematic struggles through new supporting characters like Kanji, whose experiences during the war haunt him and drive some of the main plot mechanics.
In a normal film, main characters who aren’t particularly dynamic or a hyper-focus on plot might be a bigger issue. Godzilla Minus Zero is not a normal film, though. It’s a sequel, so everything from that first movie carries over, all working together in harmony. The character development and emotional baggage, even if they’re not directly addressed here, play a part. We’re also grateful to spend more time with characters like Shikishima and Noda as they once again figure out how to defeat giant monsters. On top of that, Godzilla Minus Zero pays off all the lingering threads from the first film, such as the mysterious mark on Noriko’s neck, really bringing the two films together.
And while the characters are obviously a huge part of it, we’re really there for one reason: giant freaking monsters. Like its predecessor, Godzilla Minus Zero makes you wait for its biggest action beats as the characters dissect the hows and whys of the situation. As that happens, the anticipation builds and builds, eventually exploding. The monster action is somehow even more sweeping and cinematic than it was in Godzilla Minus One. There’s massive destruction. Battles by land and air. Camera angles that shock and delight. All of which is so well-directed that you’re always fully aware of what’s happening. Things unfold at just the right pace so you’re never lost and practically feel like you’re inside the destruction.
Godzilla Minus Zero also expands the implications of what these creatures are capable of by adding several American characters into the mix. And, since this film takes place after World War II, clearly those relationships are more than a little shaky. Political and social subtext was a huge part of Minus One, and in Minus Zero, that too gets taken to another level.
However, all that said, maybe our favorite thing about Godzilla Minus Zero is the confidence it has in itself. Not just the intricate plot, new characters, monsters, special effects, and exciting action, either. Beyond all that, Yamazaki also subtly seeds various moments throughout which would be great jumping-off points for potential future films. Some are more obvious than others, but these little touches build out the world, making an already massive movie feel even bigger.
Truly, Godzilla Minus Zero is everything you could want from a sequel. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of the original film, but very few sequels do, and this gets shockingly close. Plus, it’s just a hell of a lot of fun.
Godzilla Minus Zero opens on November 6.
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