Godzilla Minus One, the newest Godzilla movie in the series, is an absolute masterpiece. Taking place near the end of WWII, our protagonist Koichi Shikishima survives a large number of near death experiences. The movie starts with the ex-kamikaze pilot refusing to do his job. He fakes an emergency and lands on Oda Island, where several other troops are stationed. Later that night, Godzilla shows up and starts killing soldiers. When he has the chance, Koichi enters his kamikaze plane but is unable to shoot at the monster out of fear. Godzilla ends up killing all but one of the other soldiers, that being a mechanic named Sosaku Tachibana, who blames Koichi for failing to act and die for everyone.
What makes this movie so beautiful is it’s emotional impact. Koichi has many near death experiences from Godzilla and the war haunting him while dealing with the deaths of his entire family. He meets a woman named Noriko, who he wants to marry. She has a baby that was orphaned during the war with her named Akiko. Koichi spends a lot of time with the two, enough for the baby to grow into a toddler who sees Koichi as her father. Koichi gets a job destroying mines in water and makes friends with his coworkers. One day, Godzilla shows back up, nearly destroying the ship. After a slight defeat, Godzilla gets angry. Noriko goes to work one day but ends up saving Koichi’s life at the cost of her own during Godzilla’s rampage on Ginza. She is presumed to be dead until the end of the movie, where she is seen in a hospital bed.
Koichi, completely devastated and traumatized by the loss of his life partner, vows to destroy Godzilla. Koichi is a character that is so well written to portray trauma that it indisputably plays as the movie’s central plot. The government completely betrays him, he has lost just about everything he’s ever known and loved, he watched the horrors of war, and witnessed many people get stomped to death by Godzilla. What is beautiful is how he uses this to protect and safe all of Tokyo from Godzilla. He relies on the only friends he has left.
After the destruction of Ginza, Kenji Noda, one of Koichi’s coworkers revives the spirit of being a human by starting a Godzilla revenge plan, which leads me to the most beautiful part of the film that makes it a masterpiece. Koichi decides he is going to fulfill his original mission, to be a kamikaze pilot. But in order to do so, he needs a new plane. So, he reaches out to the only person he knows is able to make it. He tracks down Tachibana, who is still completely and entirely angry about Oda Island.
Tachibana beats Koichi up a bit to show just how much he lost during the Oda island incident. He stops the beating after Koichi explains the plan to fly a plane strapped with bombs into Godzilla’s mouth. With only a few days before Godzilla returns to finish the job on Ginza, they finish the plane. Tachibana tells Koichi to pull a red lever in order to turn the bomb’s safety off right before he flies into the monster’s jaws. Before the morning of the final battle, Koichi leaves a note for Akiko for when she grows up. With death on his mind, he gets into the plane, and departs.
With the lives of everyone in Tokyo on the line, Koichi flies into battle. With one final thought, he pulls the lever, and the plane flies into Godzilla’s mouth. Everyone watches in despair as the monster explodes. But just as the smoke clears, they see a parachute. Tachibana built an escape seat into the aircraft. What makes this scene beautiful is the fact that Koichi was ready to throw everything he had left away but still, he survived and returned home. Koichi survived Godzilla over 5 times during the entire movie. As he flies to the ground, he is shown a telegram, he runs to the hospital.
The way the director and writer, Takashi Yamasaki, is able to have all of the different emotional elements perfectly linked with the CGI and special effects to make a beautifully terrifying monster movie. According to Rotten Tomatoes, “With engaging human stories anchoring the action, Godzilla Minus One is one Kaiju movie that remains truly compelling between the scenes of mass destruction.” With a tomato meter score of 98%, Godzilla is a truly monumental movie for all Godzilla fans to enjoy.
