Godzilla: Minus One/Minus Color (2023)
Postwar Japan. From zero to minus.
Like a good number of folks who end up liking monsters and science fiction, it’s no surprise that I enjoy the Godzilla franchise. Whether it’s dipping my toes into the original Goijra and reading my little eyes out or revisiting my favorite Hesei arc or the absurdity of Final Wars I’m here for it. Heck, you can find my thoughts on a good deal of them here already. I was pretty happy when Netflix ended up finally getting the normal version of tonight’s choice up for watching - so much so I didn’t even wait to do it for here. Now though, they even have the fancy black and white version - so what better excuse do I have to get my thoughts out on this one? Yeah, that’s right, tonight we dive into Godzilla Minus One, Minus Color.
Perhaps the funnest part of the minus color rendition is that it pulls hard at the nostalgia for the original movie, of which this is probably the closest to thematically. Gone are the days of the big G being the champion of the people and the king of the monsters, instead he’s just a big old angry creature who happens to have a bunch of Japanese folks living in range. Really though, he’s not your main point in this movie - no, our lead and heart is distinctly human here. Our lead is a kamikaze pilot who couldn’t go through with it, instead landing on an island base only for the big beasty to show up and wreck shop. He makes it back, but Japan has already been absolutely demolished by the war, and now he has to contend with the damages of both the war and the fact he survived. He runs into and ends up forming a bit of a bond with a woman whose “adopted” a kid and is also on her own. He gets himself a job with some mine-sweeping boats, and things proceed for a while as though they might actually get better besides the obvious PTSD incurred from his first hand Godzilla experience, until that giant scaly shadow of his past comes back in horrific fanfare.
The actors do a wonderful job. Yes, some of it might be lost in translation from cultural differences. Yes, I did also opt to watch it both times as a dub instead of sub which in fairness the nuances of lines delivered in Japanese would kind of be lost on me anyways considering I understand maybe three words of the language. As far as body language goes though, people are absolutely nailing it. The line deliveries for the dubs are pretty good, so I don’t feel you are at a massive disadvantage watching it that way - but everyone has their preferences of course. Either way, the actors do a great job reacting to all the stuff thats going on, and when a moment calls for an emotional beat they raise up to the occasion with some gravitas that could border over-acting but never quite steps into the farcical realm of which over acting exists. It’s a serious movie, and the actors handle it seriously.
The characters get some depth to them. Part of it is to use that depth to help elaborate on broader concepts, and some of it is nice character motivational moments. A lot gets explored through the lead, via his issues with not only his fear of the monster but just fighting with the perceived failure of not upholding the honor of dying as a kamikaze pilot. It’s multiple layers of guilt and fear and anger all intertwined, and it in turn makes him feel far more human than some heroes we see. How he interacts with others over the course of the movie and the gradual culmination of his arc is the real core of the movie. Beyond that though, we still get plenty of things - like ragging on the uselessness of the Japanese government, something not all that new to Godzilla movies - but that focus on one trouble character dealing with his own personal monsters makes a lovely way of drawing people into the drama of the franchise that was honestly somewhat lost when we started getting to the more heroic and wild Godzilla stories the franchise grew into. The supporting crew also helps to really just sell the movie and relationships going on in it that further adds to the stakes.
Black and white makes me hungry.
The way the movie uses audio is amazing, and if that slow crescendo of discordant strings doesn’t get you tensed up you might need to crank up the volume some. It also knows when less is more, promptly making some parts eerie via the lack of audio as opposed to overbearing the senses. Probably my only main regret is that I don’t have a sound system that properly lets me enjoy that Godzilla roar to it’s finest extent. Everything is with purpose here, from the faint melodies of the touching moments, to the well delivered lines of your choosing. What we’d expect of the music does come up though - it doesn’t leave it out forever, that wonderful theme burned into my brain just as much as any of the electricity rocking through there to give me thoughts in the first place. Atmospherically the audio does just as good as the actors - bringing plenty of extra depth that may not have been needed in the first place, but certainly helps make it a far more full bodied brew.
Effects wise I don’t think anyone needs me to say anything about it. People are probably more than aware of the fact it’s gotten some pretty big awards - including that Academy award for visual effects. The thing is a power house, but with that said I do feel like pointing out a few things. Costumes feel pretty fitting for the period it’s aiming for, but you won’t see anything too crazy and stand out - which is sort of the standard fair when we are talking a real-world type movie of any setting that doesn’t involve a period with a heaping helping of armor. The settings likewise look pretty good, and we’ve got a few of them from the big city to ruined towns to various boats. Some of the vehicles - like all the boats - look great to see. Some of them - like the tanks - aren’t quite as dramatically convincing looking, and I’m not entirely sure as to what part of it makes it look less convincing. The biggest effect in the room - the giant radioactively charged dinosaur creature known as Godzilla - looks great in most instances. There’s moments where I think things were done in a very specific manor that might make someone feel the effects could be better, and of course I can’t speak for specificity on those outside of my speculations because I didn’t make the movie. The big G has a bit of stiff lumber about him, which at first might seem as kind of goofy how his head is always in that high-and-straight posture with his little arms tucked in and them stiff leg wobbles - but if you are me you realize that what it does great is emulate the original guy-in-a-suit limitations from the old Godzilla. When he’s in the water, it’s mostly all cat like weaving and tracking bugs, but then you get him big and stomping around in the later parts and it’s rigor mortis and rage. Even with that, the big G always looks pretty dang good, and one could be convinced at multiple times that there could be a mega-sized selection of prop ‘zilla bits floating around to chase after actors in camera. Now, it might feel like I’m trying to make it sound like I didn’t enjoy the effects - but no, I’m pretty well in agreement with the awards that they did a absolutely phenomenal job, I just feel it’s my duty to point out and nitpick sometimes so it doesn’t seem like my easy-going self is being too easy on things just because I like them.
Now, I said I watched this in both versions - color and not. Well, I did, and I can tell you that in all honesty I don’t feel like the minus color version really adds much to the movie. Yes, it brings in a certain layer of nostalgia by being sans color, but it doesn’t really effect the overall movie to me. Effects look mostly the same, although sometimes slightly less detailed due to the lack of finer detail variations that might happen when everything is grey-toned out. What it leads to is that the black and white feels more like a vibe then a necessity, which means that I think most would be better suited just checking it in color (which isn’t to say that the color is specifically important, but it does add a bit to the movie that the black and white doesn’t quite balance out by it’s vibe in my opinion). Of course, there’s plenty of things to think about - it is in fact a good Godzilla flick after all, so commentary is basically a requirement. Using the big G as a both a “sins of science” and also a big “personal demon” leads to the whole table full of stuff. You got your thoughts on the government, you’ve got your thoughts on the cost of war, on the guilt and shame of that same cost, finding things to live for and being willing to put it on the line to protect what you love. Yes, that’s right - the actual atomic nature of Godzilla isn’t as much a focal point this time around, even if he does still have it and we do still get some examples of the devastation that big old radiation attacks can cause.
Just a cat chasing a laser.
Second time through and I still enjoyed the movie. It’s very much a return to original form, which might not be to everyone’s liking. A lot of folks think of Godzilla from the later days of the originals - when it was him teaming up in giant wrestling matches and soccer games against fellow monsters and aliens and stuff. I know I haven’t gotten around to doing all the movies here, but I have seen them all at one point or another, and I think part of the reason I enjoy the ones I do is because of the fact that although he’s out there fighting monsters, he’s not doing it just to be a cool dude and he’s still a threat. Still, the effects are great and the very human nature of the story will draw a lot of folks who wouldn’t sign up at the sight of giant monster action - and the ones who wish for more monster at least get a ton of well done effects to satiate part of their desires. It’s well put shot, well acted, and well put together. I don’t think the audio gets quite as much talk up as it should because of the visual effects, as the way they play with sound and music is wonderful and really helps bring the movie up a notch. Check it out either way - it’s a darn good flick.