It's here, and its huge! Godzilla Minus Zero, writer/director Takashi Yamazaki's big, bold sequel to his acclaimed Godzilla Minus One, summons old friends who reteam with their perennial foe and a new one of comparable, legendary rank in the alternate-reality year of 1949.
For the sake of its focused, human compatriots, we have Ryunosuke Kamiki's fatherly Koichi Shikishima, Minami Hamabe's motherly Noriko Oishi and their adopted daughter, Sae Nagatani's Akiko, the three of whom meet up with Shadora Ando's weary but persistent Sumiko Oto, for all intent, a surrogate grandmother. (As an interesting bonus, Noriko has been mutated by Godzilla's G-cells, so that she now possesses an uncanny, symbiotic magnetism.)
In the ominous interim, the story's terrible, new Titan descends upon Japan, having come from outer space. It begins with one head, but grows two more, becoming King Ghidorah, aka Monster Zero, and for this version is represented as an absorbing, "Who Goes There?" sort of thing.
As with Godzilla Minus One, Hidetaka Yoshioka's Kenji Noda lends his calm, meticulous know-how and is joined with Masami (Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.) Nagasawa's guilt-ridden meteorologist, Makoto Aoyama, and Min Tanaka's Hiroshima-wracked biologist, Kanji Murakami, who (after other plans fail) devises a psychic-wavelength scheme (involving Noriko) to pit one monster against the other (in a neat nod to King Kong vs Godzilla), in hopes that an epic battle will force their demise. For further melodramatic effect, the skillful Koichi flies into the resulting, quasi-kamikaze fray, as Japan and the U.S. align to ensure the skittish plan reaches fruition.
If Godzilla Minus One was an allegory for facing one's demons, Godzilla Minus Zero is a seminar on how to diminish one's flaws, even if the methodology often soars on an evident wing and a prayer. The arduous preparation is essential, for the resurrected Godzilla is even more dangerous this time around, and Ghidorah holds the astounding means to elevate buildings, while spewing lethal lightning at every turn.
Though the monsters are the movie's draw, Godzilla Minus Zero emulates its predecessor by bestowing depth to its human principals. Through their speculative discussions, a progressing credibility enters the plot (dealt rather like those sweat-on-the-brow steps featured in Destination Moon). Yes, Godzilla Minus Zero is a monster movie, but it succeeds because of its diligent, human core.
This earnest approach allows Godzilla Minus Zero to hit its mark through hope and fear, courage and sacrifice, and in the end, uncurbed conviction. That sets the movie on par with The Wrath of Khan and The Empire Strikes Back: a cinematic continuation that fans will revisit and cheer for years to come.
