How do you follow up on Godzilla Minus One? Not only did the film revitalize Godzilla for a new generation of audiences but it gave us the first ever Oscar win for the legendary monster. That film was a revelation for all who saw it and it had a prolific run at the box office. Now, three years later, Godzilla Minus Zero is here to continue the story. This time around the principal players return with Ryunosuke Kamiki as Koichi, Minami Hamabe as Noriko, and Hidetaka Yoshioka as Mr. Noda. Joining them are Min Tanaka as Kanji Murakami, a biologist who has some deep psychological wounds from the war and the atomic bomb, and Masami Nagasawa as Maokoto Aoyama, a weather forecaster who helps them fight Godzilla and Ghidorah with weather.
The story this time around centers on the Large-Scale Disaster Response Bureau and their plan for a new monster that shows up in Ghidorah. Its 1949 and two years after Godzilla was defeated, the new monster rises up. Koichi has married Noriko and are raising their adopted daughter Akiko in relative peace. Ghidorah attacks Matsumoto City and devastates the city with new powers. Aoyama starts tracking the creature’s movements based on the weather. Here’s also where her emotional wound comes out and why she’s so invested in stopping Ghidorah.
Eventually, after a plan to stop Ghidorah goes wrong and ends up making them more powerful, they bring up the monster in the room, Godzilla. Then the film ends up as a grand plan to get Ghidorah and Godzilla to duke it out and the humans take out the last monster standing, who’s hopefully weakened. Koichi’s family is drawn into the conflict and we go from there.
More Action Than Last Time
With two monsters to show off and more characters to flesh out, Godzilla Minus Zero does trade off some of the drama of the first for sheer destruction. This movie is Rated R for a reason. There are some truly shocking displays of horror on screen that feel as real as possible. Between Ghidorah dropping buildings full of people, people getting stepped on, and the most haunting imagery of the movie with a view of Hiroshima after the bomb. There’s also more violence involving the monsters. Each bite, every hit, both of them take massive damage that shows on screen. The VFX team outdid themselves here with some truly jaw-dropping displays of action on screen.
That’s not to say that there isn’t drama in the film though. There’s plenty of emotional resonance, particularly for Murakami, who is a scientist that is researching all things Godzilla. His motivations are clear, he wants to make the US pay for what they did to his family. Its actually his throughline that carries the emotional weight of the story alongside the other side characters. if anything, Koichi and Noriko’s story is on the back burner. They get some emotional moments, especially with Akiko, but they don’t hit as hard as they did in the first film. Koichi isn’t a disgraced pilot any longer, he’s a hero now. They do try to play off that he’s guilty for not going out to fly, but that quickly gets resolved.
Noda’s story intertwined with Makoto’s is fascinating and the entire Large-Scale Disaster Response Bureau’s team is a highlight of the film. The other side characters get some great moments in the third act when they’re all trying to guide Ghidorah and Godzilla to fight one another.
The Movie Is Called ‘Godzilla’ Though, And That’s Why We’re Here
At the end of the day, we’re all here for Godzilla. They’re the greatest monster in the history of cinema and there’s a reason they’re called the King of the Monsters. Ghidorah is more than a fitting opponent for Godzilla in this film. Ghidorah is arguably more horrifying and destructive than Godzilla was in the first film. So while it’s fun to see Godzilla as the villain, here they’re more the neutral arbiter, fighting Ghidorah but not acting as the protector of Earth like they have in the past. That helps the film and keeps the drama on the human side of things.
If Godzilla Minus One was a perfect movie, this is just a hair of a step down. The melodrama does get a bit much in the latter part of the third act, and there’s an extended sequence of crying that goes on for simply too long, but if you’re looking for more greatness from Godzilla, this is it. Yamazaki and his team have pulled off a miracle of VFX, monsters, performances, and action once again. This one amps up the horror but drives it home with another triumphant entry to the King of the Monsters’ film porfolio.
It doesn’t get much better than hearing Godzilla roar and that score swelling up as they stomp towards Ghidorah.
Godzilla Minus Zero releases in theaters in IMAX on November 6th, 2026.
For more Reviews, make sure to check back to That Hollywood Show.
Reviews