Godzilla Minus One (5 Stars)

Godzilla is an iconic character in film history. There have been 38 Godzilla films, of which 33 were made in Japan and five were made in America. A few years ago I watched all of the Japanese films that were available on streaming services. According to my unfailing alphabetical list of posts, that was only eight films. Now you know why I say that streaming services suck. Maybe there are more today, maybe there are less. I need to check.

The American reboots of the Godzilla franchise have a chequered history. The 1998 version was quite good as a film, although Godzilla didn't look like Godzilla, he looked like a Tyrannosaur Rex variant. And he wasn't a he, he was a she. They were already changing genders in films 25 years ago! It had a hook for a sequel, but none was made, even though it was a commercial success. (The music video for the film is still the best I've ever seen; it's just a shame that it's never been published in HD). The more recent American films, from 2014 till today, are poor to average.

"Godzilla Minus One" is a Japanese reboot. I went to the cinema today without knowing what to expect, and I was blown away. This is what monster movies should be like. It's called "Minus One" because Japan was at ground zero after the Second World War, and Godzilla's appearance puts the situation in Japan back even further: minus one. It follows Koichi, a Kamikaze pilot who returns home after the war. Yes, that's a contradiction in terms.  He knew his mission was futile, so he pretended his plane was defective and landed on an island before he reached his target. This was a disgrace in a country like Japan which praises honour above all else. He was accused of making Japan lose the war, as if it had all depended on him.

Koichi takes in Noriko, a homeless woman who's adopted an orphaned baby. They live together in a platonic relationship. Everyone thinks they're married, but they aren't. In 1947 Godzilla attacks the Japanese mainland, and Koichi seeks to win back his honour by joining a mission to kill Godzilla.

Does the mission succeed? It's not a spoiler if I tell you that it fails. Godzilla will never die. They've been making films about him for 70 years, and they'll still be making films 70 years from now. I just hope that the next films will be sequels of "Godzilla Minus One". The film is so well crafted, both the terror and the emotional backstory, that it deserves sequels from the same director, Takashi Yamazaki.

And let's hope there are no more American sequels. Please.