JAPANESE CINEMA
Kaiju King Returns to His Roots in Godzilla Minus One
Review of ‘Godzilla Minus One’
It was winter 2014, and I was excited to watch Legendary's Godzilla, which kicked off the MonsterVerse franchise. My high school teacher, who is more into crime dramas, questioned my love for monster films. He asked why I enjoy watching creatures made from CGI destroy buildings and fight. I told him that Godzilla was created as a metaphor for nuclear weapons and that Kaiju movies have deeper meanings of exploring the themes of human greed, nature, everyday people's lives, and government corruption. For me, films are more than just action sequences and CGI. They are art forms that deliver visually stunning stories and offer audiences a social message. Kaiju movies embody that.
In late 2023, I went to the theater to see Godzilla Minus One. It was a wonderful experience that made me believe this movie is one of the best films of recent years and probably the best Godzilla movie since the original. Many fans of modern Kaiju movies view Godzilla as an anti-hero creature that brings balance to nature, as seen in the MonsterVerse films. However, the original Godzilla (1954) movie portrayed the monster as a destructive force causing chaos and destruction. The recent Japanese entry to the Godzilla franchise brings the Kaiju King to his…
