I watched the movie this afternoon too and I think it's my new favorite Godzilla film!
How to describe what I just saw? This is not a campy fan service movie revolving around epic monster fights and an endless stream of nostalgic self-references. This is a passionate human story that uses a giant monster as a metaphor for post-war trauma. Minus One isn't the first Godzilla movie to do that, but is clearly distinguished by its embrace of a populist ethos. In most Godzilla movies, the major human characters are government officials, businessmen, military forces, reporters, etc.; the usual movers and shakers and influence-makers of society. In this one, it's just regular people for whom the world, and even their own government, seems to care nothing. It falls to them to try and defeat Godzilla on their own somehow.
This is not a cerebral picture at all, but rather an earnest and heartfelt plea for catharsis and humanity. In a way, watching it felt a bit like watching some Clint Eastwood drama except, you know, it being Japanese and featuring a giant monster. It's dramatic, it's emotional, it's patriotic, it's straightforward, and it's got clear heroes and they're underdogs who you can't help rooting for with all your might, and little dashes of humor in all the right places. I stress the emotional part here though because I cried through like half the movie. Okay okay, people know I'm a wimp that way, but I think that anyone with a soul at all will shed at least a few tears watching.
If there was anything I disliked about Godzilla Minus One, it was the very last scene in the picture wherein it turns out that...
Part of you probably knew that was going to happen because, of course, there is more money to be made here, but it shouldn't have because it kind of undercuts the message of the film a bit. I encourage you to just pretend that this concession to commercialism isn't there, as this is otherwise a straight-up cinematic masterpiece.
