Godzilla Minus One!

Godzilla Minus One is a remarkable entry in the decades long monster series from Toho Studios. We are awash in Godzilla movies it seems these days, with a new one every few years. I'm a fan, so that's mostly fine with me. The original Godzilla is among my favorite movies, if not my favorite. (It has slowly over the years been edging out The Thing from Another World and the original King Kong for that honor for some years now.) What makes the original so fascinating and so compelling is that we know next to nothing about Godzilla. He's a force which just appears one day and brings death for thousands with him. He'd be like a hurricane if a hurricane was caused by the hand of man. (And with global warming maybe we've entered that arena as well). The movie is about the people who have to deal with the menace of Godzilla. What do you do when death comes for you cand you can't get out of the way. That's the threat of Godzilla, and it's that relentless menace that informs Godzilla Minus One. 

BEWARE! SPOILERS BEGIN. 

This is the exceedingly personal story of one man who is a kamikaze pilot in the final days of the World War II. When it comes time to give up his life for his country, he makes another choice. Later when confronted with the menace of a giant dinosaur he freezes when death stares him in the face. Men died that day, and his family died when Tokyo was bombed. He finds other survivors, a woman and baby, both orphaned by the war and the three form a family of sorts and go about finding life among the ruins. But his guilt never leaves him. And then Godzilla arises from the depths, and he knows that the menace of Odo Island has swelled to Earth-shaking proportions and tens of thousands die. His life seems to be a strand that constantly finds itself in periodic contract with Godzilla or his aftermath. Ultimately, when he's lost even more, he decides to take final action and the Japanese people, abandoned by their government and by the United States government, must unite to defeat the menace. 

RELAX! SPOILERS END. 

Wars take countless victims, both living and dead. This movie is about the living, those who survive devastating events such as war, and tells us the story of their guilt. The world is a ruthless place and good people die younger than they should have done, and when that happens those around them wonder why not them. What did they do to deserve to continue living, to have a life when the one they loved is gone. Most anyone who has lived for any length of time has confronted this dilemma of the soul. How do we justify our existence when better people than us have died. We are survivors, we get to live, and it can be a curse, but the message of Godzilla Minus One is that life is what matters. Live. 

I heartily recommend Godzilla Minus One. I was lucky enough to watch it in a near empty theater and got a seat right down near the screen for maximum effect. It was ideal for such a film. It's a great Godzilla movie, and just a great movie in all respects. 

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