Cast:
Ryunosuke Kamiki (Kōichi Shikishima), Minami Hamabe (Noriko Ōishi), Yuki Yamada (Shirō Mizushima), Munetaka Aoki (Sōsaku Tachibana), Hidetaka Yoshioka (Kenji Noda), Sakura Ando (Sumiko Ōta), Kuranosuke Sasaki (Yōji Akitsu), Mio Tanaka (Tatsuo Hotta), and Yuya Endo (Tadayuki Saitō) Written and Directed by Takashi Yamazaki.
Review:
"I love the original Godzilla, and I felt I should stay true to that spirit, addressing the issues of war and nuclear weapons."
Admittedly, I have been a bit slow in covering Godzilla films, because really, I feel like I should've done better than seeing just the first eight films in eleven years (oh sure, the American ones got their due, but whatever - there are 33 Toho Godzilla films and four-going-on-five American ones!). I vaguely remember hearing about Shin Godzilla (2016), but, well, what are the odds that it actually got a release where I live (read: small town - it should be mentioned that the 2016 film was the first of those films to have a North American release since Godzilla 2000)? Fate does lend a hand sometimes, and when I heard that this film (released in Japan in November) was getting a release with subtitles, hell yes I was up for seeing this. This is the first live-action Godzilla film released by Toho since the aforementioned 2016 film, which is because the studio could not produce one until at least 2020 due a contract they did with Legendary Pictures (of course, Polygon Pictures and Toho Animation did serve as production companies on an anime trilogy: Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017), Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018), and Godzilla: The Planet Eater [2018]). Takashi Yamazaki directed films when he was a youth (as influenced by viewing features such as 1977's Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and he worked in visual effects for a number of years before becoming a feature director with Juvenile (2000); he had included a CGI cameo of Godzilla in a brief sequence in his 2007 film Always: Sunset of Third Street 2 along with one for an amusement park ride. Yamazaki has stated that the original film (as done by Ishiro Honda) and Shusuke Kaneko's Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) served as influences on his film, among a few non-Godzilla ones to go with seeing the anxiety and unreliability that came with the COVID pandemic. Yamazaki and Kiyoko Shibuya were involved in the creation of the visual effects (as handled by Shirogumi) for a film with a reported budget of $15 million.
What better way to serve as a "70th Anniversary" film than to make a period piece Godzilla film Making a replica of Kyushu J7W Shinden and doing a film that looks for the idea of life even in the hands of despair and fear makes this probably the best Godzilla film in a number of years. It isn't too often you see Godzilla stand alone in a monster mash, and yet here we are with a particularly involving 125-minute film that shows one thing above all: you really can't beat the theater when it comes to experiencing film in the best way possible for life. People coming together really does make for a compelling adventure. The terror of the bomb of the original film still rings for a coherent film that seems as relevant as ever, with this one citing the two nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946 (Operation Crossroads - one of the tests was described as the "world's first nuclear disaster") when it comes to mutations; of course, one also sees a bit of effects fudging to depict why America would not be involved in any dealing with Godzilla once spotted near Japan, so there's something to consider (or just how one considers governments in general). Kamiki is here to carry the emotional weight of survivor guilt that makes for quite the experience when it comes to the nature of what really matters to those who sees the eyes of death and live with the pain of telling the tale. He rings true in the pain of being in a spot among others that struggles with the fact that he is even there at all no matter how many things can go favorably for them (in this case, anyway). One doesn't always remember the lead performer for a Godzilla film, but he makes a good case for it here. The rest of the cast handle it just as well in that endearing sense of soul and general interest, which mainly involves competency on the level one hopes for in a period piece, whether that is the patient Hamabe or a boisterous crew in Yoshioka and company that keep things afloat even when one sees the inevitable coming in the force of nature. The filmmakers set out to make Godzilla look "deadliest in history", and I think they did a pretty good job in that regard when it comes to the sheer scope of annihilation in certain sequences, such as its appearance in Ginza. In general, the film doesn't ring a false note in its period trappings or in its effects sequences, and it does earn those certain music cues when it matters most. I appreciate the film best because I got to see it in a theater with the full experience of hearing and viewing the scope of the film with the best of intentions that earns its moments for quality and involving entertainment. Who knows where it stands among the Godzilla films as a whole (the original is a hard one to beat for sheer originality), but Godzilla Minus One has a solid case for all to recommend as something to watch in the best state possible.
Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment