Godzilla Minus One

You'd think that being around for seventy years and having had nearly forty movies and a few shows, video games, and comic books that the Godzilla franchise would run out of steam and no longer be as great as it once, but Godzilla Minus One proves just how it continues to go and thrive. In this entry, Toho's giant radioactive monster is introduced nearly a decade early from the original 1954 film. The movie mainly focuses on Kōichi Shikishima, a former kamikaze pilot who had an encounter with Godzilla before it was mutated by test nukes. Two years after the war ends, Kōichi witnesses a now giant and mutated Godzilla attacking Japan, where thousands are killed and Kōichi's love interest goes missing. Having grown frustrated by the government's inaction from the attack, he joins a group of scientists and retired military to take down Godzilla. This reboot harkens back to the original film's darker, more horror based roots with its depiction of the iconic monster used as a metaphor towards the nuking of Japan. It also used Godzilla's rampage and Kōichi's trauma to depict the senselessness, violence, and repercussions of war. Takashi Yamazaki manages to modernize a story despite it taking place in the late 40s all thanks to his incredible direction and superb writing. While most human characters in giant monster films tend to be a bit one note and just be there to be killed off, Takashi gives every single one of them a sense of need and urgency so that when Godzilla does attack you do feel for them. The cast, in particular Ryunosuke Kamiki as Kōichi, all give powerful performances, strong enough to keep us caring for them and preventing any annoyance whenever Godzilla isn't onscreen. Biggest strength for a giant monster film is of course the effects and how the monster is portrayed, so the fact that the director of this movie also worked on the visual effects with Kiyoko Shibuya meant that we got not only great destructive visuals but also had an incredible look and design to Godzilla that harkened a bit to being a man in a suit. Add to that, Kōzō Shibasaki's cinematography gives us an incredibly looking movie that is equal parts beautiful and foreboding. Not all giant monster movies need to be just two of them fighting and boring humans trying to survive, and Godzilla Minus One proves that. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Oppenheimer

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

3. Godzilla Minus One

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

5. Asteroid City

6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

7. Blue Beetle

8. Barbie

9. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

10. Elemental

11. Air

12. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

13. Creed III

14. John Wick: Chapter 4

15. Scream VI

16. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

17. Killers of the Flower Moon

18. M3GAN

19. Dumb Money

20. The Marvels

21. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

22. Cocaine Bear

23. Knock at the Cabin

24. The Flash

25. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

26. Renfield

27. Fast X

28. The Little Mermaid 2023

29. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

30. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

31. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania