Like a giant monster suddenly emerging from the ocean and crush you like a worm before you could run to safety, Godzilla Minus One surprise-dropped on Netflix . And it’s about damn time we can watch it at home, as its six-month theatrical-to-streaming window was significantly longer than most – and, for us kaijumongers, felt like six years. Despite being the scariest depiction of Godzilla ever, the film, from Japan’s Toho studio, became one of 2023’s most heartwarming success stories: Modestly budgeted at $10-$12 million, it grossed $115 million worldwide and became a holiday-season hit in the U.
S., significantly boosting the career of talented writer/director Takashi Yamazaki. It also not only boasts visual effects that made Hollywood superhero films with 20 times the budget look like the dreckola it too often is, but also won the Oscar for best visual effects.
Two things I should also mention: The movie is titled such because it takes place prior to the events of the original 1954 Godzilla (and anyone who starts poking holes in timelines, remember, there’s a special level of hell reserved for continuity nitpickers). Also, the human characters achieve something we’ve never experienced before in a Godzilla movie: we love them and don’t want to see them get stomped or obliterated by the big guy’s radioactive garlic breath. All this adds up to a great movie – and here’s why you should fire it up, pronto.
The Gist: It’s 1945, the waning days of World War II.