Godzilla has been a prominent film character for over 70 years. With numerous countries taking a crack at adapting the character, almost every film has depicted the gigantic monster differently. From an unstoppable being to an empathetic creature, there’s no telling how it would operate within the film. In 2023, writer, director, and visual effects artist Takashi Yamasaki decided to take Godzilla back to its roots with Godzilla Minus One, which brought the horror back to the beloved monster while paralleling it to Japanese history. After winning an Oscar for Best Visual Effects and making over ten times its budget at the box office, a sequel seemed almost guaranteed. Jump to 2026: Yamasaki returns to the Godzilla franchise with Godzilla Minus Zero, proving his Oscar-winning film was no one-off. Luckily for him, he proved himself correct.

The film once again follows Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) as he tries to recover from the tragic events of Godzilla Minus One. Now married to Noriko Ōishi(Minami Hamabe) and continuing to raise their adopted daughter Akiko(Sae Nagatani), things take a turn for the worse as a new monster appears and begins to terrorize the citizens of Japan, forcing Kōichi to join the war once again.

It’s rare to see a sequel whose title goes in descending order to its predecessor, but Godzilla Minus Zero earns the zero as the characters go back to square one. Attempting to live normal lives after the atrocities that occurred in the previous film, the film is just as much about the human characters as it is about the monsters, and in some cases, more so. While the film isn’t attempting to dive super deep into the protagonists, they’re given far more depth than the average monster film, with Kōichi and Noriko receiving particularly strong development as they try to navigate life after tragedy. From physical turmoil to psychological dilemmas, Yamasaki made it extremely easy to care about the characters.

The film also introduces new characters who are immediately compelling, with the standouts being Makoto Aoyama (Masami Nagasawa) and Kanji Murakami (Min Tanaka). Nagasawa takes what could’ve been a forgettable supporting character and turns her into a strong-willed, charismatic, and pivotal player in the film. Every time she senses the weather, you’ll want to lean forward in your seat. Easily the standout of the film and arguably the beating heart is Kanji, whose revenge-stricken path acts as the perfect thesis for the film. Both threatening and vulnerable at times, Tanaka captures the complex character in all the right ways.

Although much of the film focuses on humans, the Godzilla action delivers as much of the best this franchise has to offer. Yamazaki captures Godzilla’s scale like no other, with every energy beam matching the damage of a nuclear bomb. With buildings crumbling within seconds of impact and hundreds dying, danger is always imminent when the monsters are on screen. The sound design brings the horror to life, with Godzilla’s piercing scream and a barrage of building-destruction noise that blows out your eardrums in all the right ways. In terms of action, horror, and technical aspects overall, there isn’t much to complain about.

Much like its predecessor, the film parallels the events of Hiroshima and how it wasn’t just a brief moment of horror for the country, but a long-lasting oppression that some are still reckoning with. Noriko is the best example of this, as her traumas directly correlate with radiation issues that many Japanese citizens suffer. While the film’s ideas are far from poor, it sometimes feels like it repeats too much from Godzilla Minus One. Both films have characters who have PTSD from the war and struggle to go back to normal life, making Godzilla Minus Zero feel a lot less refreshing. The film also lacks monster action. In its 135-minute runtime, it has only two major set pieces, and Godzilla appears in only one. Although the sequences stand out more because of their rarity, the pacing suffers at times from this lack.

Issues aside, Godzilla Minus Zero is a more-than-worthy sequel that excels at what it mastered in the previous film. With awe-inspiring action and surprisingly satisfying character moments, this is a rare occasion of blockbuster filmmaking finding intimacy and scale and mastering both. After making over 30 Godzilla films, you’d think the monster would be a tired concept, but Yamazaki breathes blue, fiery life into the character.

Godzilla Minus Zero is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Rating: 7/10

Oscar Prospects:

Best Sound, Best Visual Effects