Godzilla Minus One Is Cinema

it's December now and looking back 2023 has been a pretty interesting year for movies there was definitely some put out over the last 12 months but overall I would say this is a pretty damn good year I mean this year I went to the movie theater 32 times which is more than any other year of my life but as we got closer to the end of the year my list of must-watch movies went down to only one [Music] film I've been a fan of Godzilla for a while now originally getting into it through legendar monsters and as much as I enjoy the American Godzilla films there's always been one huge issue that has always bothered me and what seems like the majority of fans the human characters the monsterverse has a weird obsession with attempting to make us care about their boring generic human characters which is constantly taking away time from what we actually care about they did a good job when it actually came to the monsters but their most recent film films have seemed to lost their way a bit Godzilla wasn't just made to be a cool monster fighting other monsters he was created to be a symbolic metaphor for nuclear weapons in the devastation that they can cause Godzilla minus one understood that when the first trailer for this film dropped it blew me away it looked like a breath of fresh air it seemed like it actually took itself seriously and didn't have that hollywoodized victim to it looked like an actual film not an event minus one released in select North American theaters and I was lucky enough to go opening didn't see it a IMAX I mean I had high expectations but my God I am not joking when I say this this might just be the best film of the year every aspect of this film was masterfully crafted by tekashi yamazaki this man is a genius he oversaw VFX wrote and directed minus one this may be the most terrifying version of Godzilla we've ever had because minus one doesn't attempt to make him some sort of anti-hero like the monsterverse does this Godzilla is straight up evil he does not give any and just bulldozes through cities without any goal or purpose he seems to enjoy wreaking havoc and there's there's not a single thing anyone can do to stop him there's an incredible sense of scale to his design as he is chasing wooden boats in the ocean or walking through buildings Godzilla feels huge and is a threat in every single scene he's in you feel the horror of the Japanese people as this monstrosity created by Humanity's mistakes ravages their homes and my God the atomic breath scene was just jaw-dropping sure the monsterverse atomic breath is cool but it doesn't really have any weight to it it's more comparable to Superman using his laser eyes than something capable of mass destruction minus one's Atomic breath has a really good slow buildup but when it's fired it's like a shotgun blast quickly flying out and causes a blast on par with a nuclear explosion seeing that scene in IMAX was just chilling the entire theater was in awe the score to this film was also incredible as soon as I got home I added the soundtrack to my liary the film has harrowingly beautiful tracks like elegy and also monstrously epic tracks like Divine that sound like boss battle music but besides the terrifying portrayal of Godzilla and the Fantastic music what makes this film Stand Out is how it handles the human characters because this honestly it would have still been an interesting film even if Godzilla wasn't in it due to the Intriguing time setting and the enthralling characters we follow kuichi a kamakazi pilot for the Japanese Army during the final days of World War II who abandoned his mission because he wanted to live he tells the Army mechanics that his plan had a malfunction but they saw right through him accusing him of being a coward for not wanting to give his life for Japan one of my favorite moment of the film is when kaichi is upset in sitting by the water and one of the mechanics approaches him and says he understands why he didn't want to die for a nothing cause it was 1945 and Japan was on the verge of surrender from Allied Forces so kichi is questioning the value and giving up his life in a losing battle when Godzilla appears For the First Time The Mechanic Captain tachibana ordered kichi to get in his plane and fire the guns on the terrifying creature kichi runs to the plane but is unable to fire upon the monster out of fear so the mechanics open fire on Godzilla causing him to kill them all but kaichi and tachibana because of this kichi lives with regret throughout the film and constantly feels as if he deserves to die these are the themes at minus one explores themes of death and the value of human life Japan during World War II was a country that didn't value the lives of the soldiers who fought for it many of their plans were not designed to have ejection seats and soldiers were expected to give their lives for their country as kamakazi Pilots honor was the foundation for the sacrifice dying for your country was The Honorable thing to do so many did it but what happens when you start to question the country your side fights for is it really honorable to Die For A Cause that you don't believe in and for a war that is so clearly ending is life really that meaningless minus one says no there is an inspiring scene leading up to the third Act of the film where the Japanese people meet in a room to come up with a plan to stop Godzilla the Japanese government is unable to help so it's up to the citizens to save the country and its people while coming up with a plan the Men start to question why they should even help they already risked their lives in the war and saw so many get killed later the the scientist who came up with the plan gives a speech that recognizes the trauma of the war torn men but assures them that this time will be different this time their lives will be valued this time they are not fighting for a war that values death they are fighting for life because life is valuable and it deserves to be fought for later in the film when kichi sacrifices himself and crashes the plane into the mouth of Godzilla it is revealed that Tachi bana the man who told kichi he was a coward and he was meant to die is the one who saved his life he told him about the ejection seat in his plane which allowed kichi to serve his country while keeping his own life these themes of Life Death sacrifice and Redemption are what make minus one so good and refreshing Hollywood seems to be under the impression that these movies can have cool action set pieces and big monsters while also having an interesting human drama in the foreground want to know something crazy Godzilla king of the monsters had a budget of around $200 million while minus one had one of 15 million I didn't believe this when I first heard it cuz this film looks so damn incredible and it's embarrassing for Hollywood and shows up these big movie studios don't know how to put their money towards the proper resources I really do think minus one has the opportunity to change the industry and how Hollywood looks at approaching these kinds of movies of course we all love watching a big monster fight another big monster but that doesn't mean we can't also have an interesting story with relatable characters and themes about The Human Condition minus one proves this is possible telling a story about a nation being hit hard when they're already at their lowest point going from zero to minus [Music]

Channel: Dilpik

Views: 10,558

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Id: yYaJi6cGxhc

Length: 6min 39sec (399 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 08 2024