Godzilla Minus Zero: almost as epic and exciting as Godzilla Minus One (review)

The sequel to the 2023 Japanese hit features the same blend of retro aesthetics and epic action as its predecessor. The element of surprise has passed, but the virtuosity is still there.

In 2023, with Godzilla Minus One, an epic and vibrant alternative to the bloated US blockbusters featuring the legendary kaiju (the recent Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom by Adam Wingard), director Takashi Yamazaki managed to appeal well beyond the borders of Japan and the monster’s fan club, going so far as to win an Oscar – deserved – for best visual effects.

In this sequel entitled Godzilla Minus Zero, the filmmaker takes up the very attractive characters and biases of the first part: a mix between a slightly “stiff” retro aesthetic (a sort of pastiche of the conventions of vintage war films), an epic breath inherited from Spielberg, and sensitive drama in the rubble of Hiroshima and the traumatized Japanese society of the post-World War II era…..