Stubs - Godzilla Minus Zero

Godzilla Minus Zero (2026) starring Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Min Tanaka, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Masami Nagasawa, Yuki Yamada, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Jun Kunimura, Sakura Ando, Miou Tanaka. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Screenplay by Takashi Yamazaki. Produced by Kazuaki Kishida, Gō Abe, Keiichirō Moriya. Run time: 135 minutes. Color. Japanese, Epic Kaiju

While Godzilla Minus One may have snuck up on audiences in 2023, the same cannot be said for the sequel Godzilla Minus Zero, which opened on November 6 in the United States. Unlike sequels in Hollywood, the budget for this new film did not balloon and, once again, every yen spent seems to be on the screen and then some.

Akiko (Sae Nagatani), Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Noriko (Minami
Hamabe) in one of the more powerful scenes in the film.

The sequel picks up on the life that Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Noriko (Minami Hamabe) have made with Akiko (Sae Nagatani), but the real story is that there is a new monster in town. Ghidorah has landed on the Earth and taken DNA from different animals and emerges as a winged monster, with eyes only for Japan. 

Once again, the US leaves the Japanese in charge, and despite the best laid plans of Professor Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) and meteorologist Makoto Aoyama (Masami Nagasawa), not only is Ghidorah not defeated, but morphs into a three-headed King Ghidorah.

And, as if to make matters worse, Godzilla was not killed at the end of the first film, and is now back. Can things get worse for Japan? You'll have to watch the film to see for yourself.

Even a casual viewer of Japanese Godzilla films, and there have been many, know that monster v. monster is nothing new, and Godzilla Minus Zero does not pass on that opportunity. But what separates this from other such films is the human touch. The characters are well-rounded and likable, and you see the struggle in a personal light. Japan may be at war with monsters, but so are Kōichi and Noriko.

The film, unlike other monster films, is truly scary at times, especially judging by the people I watched the film with. King Ghidorah is more than three times worse that Ghidorah and Godzilla leaves nothing to sneeze at, either. I don't want to give any images away, as they are best seen first on the big screen.

Takashi Yamazaki, the writer, director and VFX behind the film, does a marvelous job of giving hope and then taking it away, over and over again. But at the same time, you never give up on humans to do what needs to be done. The fact that a monster film has so much heart in it is extraordinary and helps make this one of the best films to come out this year.

While you may be leery of reading the film, it is in Japanese with English subtitles, the script is paced in such a way that makes reading the dialogue work. You never find yourself trying to finish one subtitle before the next one comes on screen, so you never feel like you're missing out on part of the story.

The acting is also good, especially Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe and Hidetaka Yoshioka, who not only resurrect their characters from the previous film, but also make you care about them as well.

There are also moments of laugh out loud humor and deep feeling pathos, which propel this above the usual monster fare.

Godzilla Minus Zero is not better than the original in my eyes, but it is still a really great piece of filmmaking, and if there is justice in the Academy Awards, this should receive many nominations and not just for the VFX. This is film worth watching and if you can see it in IMAX, I recommend that you do.