Watching Godzilla vs. Kong one last time before it leaves Netflix on December 31. Not that I don't have it in other formats 😂 but why not. I dig Godzilla stuff across the board. I guess some people hate on the USA ones, but Kong is always my main draw in these. And this one has some GREAT Kong stuff in it.
"Directed by Takashi Yamazaki and produced by Toho Studios". No wonder I enjoyed it - no CGI fluff*, no Marvel type of gimmicks. And the budget was not even a quarter of most Hollywood films today. BUT better than all of them.
Yesterday I caught GODZILLA MINUS ONE in a theater and thought it was great. It's set at the very end of World War Two. Koichi Shikishima, the protagonist, is a kamikaze pilot who lost his nerve and claimed mechanical problems to avoid a battle. While his plane is being inspected at a tiny island base, the base is attacked by the T-Rex sized creature called Godzilla. He survives and returns to the devastated postwar Tokyo, forming an irregular family with Nariko, a streetwise young woman, and Akiko, an orphaned baby. Then the Americans detonate the H-bomb at Bikini, and Godzilla is now much more dangerous (and radioactive!). And he's heading for Tokyo -- will a rag-tag bunch of civilians be able to drive the creature away? And will Shikishima find the strength to help? (1/2)
Hopefully we’ll be able to discuss Godzilla Minus One on the podcast soon; however, here’s my short, spoiler-free reaction to the film.
Here in Phoenix, it’s still in theaters and looks to be for at least another week. We saw it on a (not-IMAX) but still large-screen theatre, and it was amazing. If you have the opportunity and any inclination towards monsters smashing Tokyo – and, honestly, even if you don’t – SEE THIS FILM.
This is possibly the most human Godzilla film made to date. While Godzilla is integral to the story and appears for some impressive stomping and blasting, this film truly is about the main character, Koichi, a “failed” kamikaze pilot at the end of the war, and his fateful journey through guilt, PTSD, and ultimate redemption through sacrifice, as Tokyo, already smashed to rubble by American firebombing struggles to rebuild from nothing is torn down once again by the arrival of Godzilla.
“Real” Godzilla films (those made in Japan by Toho studios) rarely get wide release in the US. The last I’m aware of was Godzilla 1985, which was my first opportunity to see Godzilla on the big screen. Impressive though it was at the time, it is nothing compared to Godzilla Minus One.
When Godzilla first arrives in Tokyo and the music fills the theatre with Akira Ifukube’s original Godzilla themes – not just as thematic cues, but full-on tracks, the hairs will stand up on the neck of any Godzilla fan. (I can only compare it to when the James Bond starts kicking in during an action sequence in a 007 film.)
Godzilla Minus One's Title Explained: Why The Godzilla Movie Is Called That (screenrant.com)
Godzilla’s newest entry has an intriguing title.