A shadow once cast isn’t banished so swiftly.
We soak in its horror long after it’s gone.
We wish for a switch that could turn off the terror
As quickly and coldly as it was flipped on.

It clings to our dreams, both in sleep and in waking.
It morphs what we want, who to hurt, who to blame.
Some never can shake it, that leftover burden
Of something they loved that was lost to the pain.

The shadow is sticky, tenacious, undying;
You kick it away, and it always returns.
But battle is better than letting it drown you;
Living’s the vengeance for which the heart yearns.
____________________

MPA rating: R (for violence and death; could pass for PG-13 in my opinion)

Godzilla Minus One took many viewers by surprise, myself included, boasting an affecting human story at the heart of the big destruction sequences and even managing to snag a Visual Effects Oscar. For me, it was a clear outlier of Godzilla media, which had never interested me much before, so it’s gratifying that its sequel Godzilla Minus Zero delivers the same well-rounded human-vs-monster story as its predecessor.

Picking up two years after former kamikaze pilot Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) managed to vanquish Godzilla, the film puts Japan right back into danger as a flying dragon-like creature called Ghidorah begins a new reign of terror. Scientist Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) leads a bureau specifically meant to handle such disasters, and he regretfully pulls Shikishima back into the monster-killing effort, if only to protect his wife Noriko (Minami Hamabe) and their adopted daughter Akiko (Sae Nagatani). As an unlikely survivor of the first rampage, Noriko is faced with even harder choices when Godzilla also makes a reappearance.

I will say up front that I consider Minus One the better film, if only for its more focused themes and satisfying ending, but Minus Zero carries over a lot of the same strengths. The relationship between Shikishima, Noriko, and Akiko feels heart-tuggingly real, all of them survivors who only wish to survive together, and the aftermath of WW2 continues to haunt the cast, particularly Professor Murakami (Min Tanaka), a biologist who dreams of perpetuating the cycle of revenge. And of course, there are giant monsters, with the ever-evolving Ghidorah wreaking havoc on anything in its way. The effects work is spectacular yet again, proving that Japan can put plenty of Hollywood CGI to shame.

As for the negatives, they mainly revolve around the ending for me. The big battle that pits Godzilla against Ghidorah is awesome, but the scale of it makes it hard to believe any of the humans nearby would survive, and it ends a bit anticlimactically, most likely to leave options open for a third film. It’s hard to say in what direction that third film might go, but writer-director Takashi Yamazaki has me thoroughly invested in this particular iteration of the Godzilla mythos. I still wouldn’t consider myself a general fan of Godzilla like some of my friends are, but I am a fan of good movies, and if a good movie happens to feature Godzilla, then I’m in.

Rank:  List-Worthy (joining Minus One)

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