{"id":27551,"date":"2023-12-05T22:32:40","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T06:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=27551"},"modified":"2023-12-05T22:32:40","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T06:32:40","slug":"godzilla-minus-one-is-one-of-the-best-in-the-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=27551","title":{"rendered":"GODZILLA MINUS ONE is One of the Best in the Franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running time: 125 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Toho International is currently playing\nat cinemas in major markets.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2024 marks the 70th<\/sup> anniversary of an iconic\nlegend in science-fiction film… a giant reptilian monster known to North\nAmerican audiences as Godzilla. The success of the original Japanese film has\nspawned sequels and US remakes (along with its own follow-ups) totaling nearly\n40 titles. So, it should come as no surprise that Toho Co. Ltd. has decided to\nrelease a new feature based on the character. Godzilla Minus One<\/em> is\nactually a prequel to the 1954 original, making the task of creating a worthy\neffort even more challenging. Yet the final product ends up being one of if not\nthe best movies in the entire franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Set near the end of WWII, Japan is close to surrendering to U.S. forces. Knowing his assigned mission will not change the outcome of the conflict, young kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) decides to fake a technical issue with his plane and land on a nearby island for repairs. While there, he and a team of mechanics encounter the titular monster. Koichi survives and eventually returns home to learn that a bombing raid has wiped out most of his old neighborhood. Locals blame him for the country\u2019s loss and the guilt-ridden figure unexpectedly finds himself living in the ruins with a female survivor Noriko \u014cishi (Minami Hamabe) and an orphaned baby. To support them, he takes dangerous ocean clean-up work on a minesweeping barge with captain Y\u014dji Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki), trainee Shir\u014d Mizushima (Yuki Yamada) and ex-weapons engineer Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka). With life beginning to improve, the group unexpectedly encounter a larger and even more powerful Godzilla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, this action presented here is thrilling to\nwitness, with creatively rendered and effective action scenes. For many films\nin this series, the tone has been decidedly over-the-top and kooky (aliens have\neven gotten involved in the shenanigans), with more attention paid to the\nmonster\u2019s well-being than the humans underneath. This film is a different\nstory. Godzilla is a far more menacing presence, swimming around largely\nsubmerged like a shark before suddenly bursting up to throttle battleships. When\nthe creature arrives on land, the movie makes sure to show the public in a\ntruly terrified and imperiled state. The monster\u2019s heat ray is devastating to\nwitness. It sends chills down the spine, looking truly reminiscent of an atomic\nblast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yes, the movie delivers on the action front, it does\nsomething even more important in order to stand out. It is the first film that\nthis reviewer can recall in which the human characters are well-developed and\nmemorable. Protagonist Koichi suffers deeply from survivor\u2019s syndrome, not even\ninitially wanting to get close to his newfound family. And as the story\nprogresses, remorse over previous actions drives the character to contemplate a\nreal kamikaze attack on the enormous foe. He\u2019s a sympathetic character and\ninteresting, as are Noriko and the infant. The lead\u2019s eccentric, downcast\nsailing compatriots also stand out with strong personalities. The fact that the\nmovie focuses on the trials of average citizens is a distinctive touch that\nresults in viewers rooting for them over the famous monster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While almost everything does work, one can nitpick a moment\nor two. With a villain as grandiose as Godzilla, the human cast have to emote\nin a more demonstrative manner during a couple of scenes. There is also a scene\nafter the climax that strains believability. For a movie that, up to this\nclimax, effectively deals with issues of loss, guilt and remorse, the script\ndoes tie up one plot thread in too bright a manner. Still, the fact that there\nare only one or two questionable dramatic notes in a movie about an enormous\nirradiated lizard speaks to how successful the final product is.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s incredible that a movie made for about 1\/15th<\/sup>\nof the budget of a Hollywood science-fiction feature can not only match, but in\nmany ways outdo its wealthier competitors. That\u2019s because there is a lot more\nheart and soul in this entry than one would anticipate. Toho can take plenty of\npride in the quality of Godzilla Minus One<\/em> and note the fact that these\ngiant monster films can still entertain, surprise and even move audiences 70\nyears after its debut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running time: 125 minutes This feature from Toho International is currently playing at cinemas in major markets. 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of an iconic legend in science-fiction film… a giant reptilian monster known to North American audiences as Godzilla. The success of the original Japanese film has spawned sequels and US remakes (along with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":27552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[213,8429,8431,8432,8433,8434,10385,11411,14186,22981,22982,24483,24534],"class_list":["post-27551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-213","tag-godzilla","tag-godzilla-minus-one","tag-godzilla-minus-one-film-review","tag-godzilla-minus-one-movie-review","tag-godzilla-minus-one-review","tag-japan","tag-kaiju","tag-monster","tag-toho","tag-toho-co-ltd","tag-world-war-ii","tag-wwii"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27551\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}