A continuation from Godzilla Minus One, and the very first Godzilla film that roars with a R rating. Godzilla Minus Zero is magnificent, spellbinding, loud, and enticing. The scenes filled with monstrous battles left me breathless, especially due to the IMAX format. I felt surrounded by the presence of monsters on the largest scale possible. There is so much to Godzilla Minus Zero that my mind was blown and the thoughts lingered with me long after the credits rolled.
Following the events of Godzilla Minus One, the Shikishima family is the focus as they face a new disaster. It has been two years since surviving the monsters, but the chaos is not over yet. In Godzilla Minus Zero, there are more creatures and additional battles.That is why the film was slapped with the R rating—there is more violence than before. The main characters (many of whom are returning from the previous film) are Noriko Oishi (Minami Hamabe), Dr. Ogata (Jun Kunimura), Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), Makoto Aoyama (Masami Nagasawa), Shiro Mizushima (Yuki Yamada), Sosaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki), and Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka). They will have to face uncharted territory. They survived the monsters once, can they survive again? The answers are waiting in the fighting pits.
The newest enemy is Ghidorah, a dragon with multiple heads. The newest threatening monster swarms throughout the film. There are new powers based on advanced science to be unleashed. Godzilla is the only one that can take Ghidorah down. Throughout the film, there are waves of trials and errors, and fragments of what is untold from the previous film. There is much more theory in Godzilla Minus Zero and it roars with elements that count. From the very opening of the film, Godzilla is stirring up all kinds of mayhem.
My experience of this movie was at the Cinemark Seven Bridges & IMAX in Woodridge, Illinois. The one IMAX everyone traveled miles to experience The Odyssey on 70 MM. Godzilla Minus Zero was digital in the IMAX format, but the scenes of the film shot with IMAX cameras made all the monsters and action feel like such a spectacle of an experience.
Loud roars are mixed with cinematically daring damage in this film which loops in science to bring the two heroes together for a showdown. The other element that is well written involves the impact from Godzilla in the previous film. There is more of that ahead, but the pattern used in the writing is spot-on. Godzilla Minus Zero pulled me in deep with a strong, inspirational storyline. The message that the world will keep facing new challenges is handled effectively in this franchise. Fortunately, Godzilla Minus Zero has a director who knows what he is doing. Four out of four stars.
