Koichi Shikishima is in an elite club, he is a kamikaze pilot who didn’t complete his mission for the glory of Japan. Naturally this isn’t viewed with any favour by his fellow country people. After deciding not to drive his plane into an enemy target Koichi lands on a remote Island airfield in the middle of nowhere. Sosaku Tachibana and his crew of plane mechanics are about the only others hanging out in this backwater, and strangely find nothing wrong with Koichi’s aircraft. Before things can escalate the rag tag Island garrison are attacked by a honking big aquatic dinosaur thing, which proceeds to make quick work of about everything and everyone except Koichi and Sosaku. The two survivors make it back to post war Japan, where things are grime, and Koichi is haunted by his failure to fulfil his mission, for Koichi his war is still being fought. On the bright side he does rescue a chick and her kid, and gets a job helping to clear mines still floating around the local waters which are a clear and present danger to shipping and skinny dippers. And wouldn’t you know it, the monster – everyone’s favourite Kaiju Godzilla, is back and wreaking havoc on the remnants of Japan. Through the resources of a friend Koichi is inducted into a secret Government attempt to eradicate Godzilla before the monster can cause further devastation, can Koichi rise to the occasion and finally finish his own personal war?

In recent years Hollywood has adopted the whole Godzilla thing, a classic of Japanese cinema, pumping out movies ranging from the average to completely lame. Witness the latest instalment, which sees Godzilla and of all things King Kong banding together to battle a common foe, seriously is writing getting worse in L.A, and have IQ points dropped a collective twenty points in tinsel town. So the yanks are pretty much back in Abbott and Costello lala land and a tired Kaiju audience turn their heads to the land of the rising son. And wouldn’t you know it Toho studios delivered with Shin Godzilla (2016), for mine the best Godzilla movie of the last decade till the excellent Godzilla Minus One (2023) was duly delivered to audience high fiving each other into the emergency ward. I’ve still got a sore hand from the general mayhem that ensued from the screening I attended. Minus One hit Western cinemas to stunning and results and even managed an Oscar win for best visual effects. Given the general shite on show by the Academy during the ceremony, which thankfully I didn’t watch, Minus One should have won a whole bunch more awards.

So why was the movie successful with audiences, yeah let’s talk about the white dinosaur in the room up front. Basically the movie returned to standard storytelling, involving the hero’s progress, rather than having a Mary-Sue who can do anything without going through the pain of learning how to do anything. Koichi fails in his mission to kamikaze during the final stages of John Wayne’s Big One, and is haunted by his cowardice due to this and his failing to at least try to save Sosaku’s crew during Godzilla’s rampage. He starts to rebuild his life but is haunted by the war which for him isn’t over, till finally he needs to face his fear in order to achieve his apparent preordained destiny of facing the Big G. It’s the journey that’s the import part of the story, something Boredwood scribes seem incapable of recognising as they have female leads who never fail at anything and are able to overcome dudes about three times their size with ease! Yeah, not sending a good message out to young girls there Hollywood, no wonder we are in an age of self-centred narcissists. Okay digressing there, but Minus One works due to the writers returning to storytelling, and jettisoning beating the audience over the head with whatever the current fashionable message is.

Which isn’t to say the movie isn’t at least hinting at some political comment. If you ever wanted an example of an anti-war movie that doesn’t blast people in the face with the politics, then this is that movie. While the whole Godzilla thing is something of an ongoing comment on the U.S dropping nuclear weapons on mainland Japan to finish WWII, Minus One goes one step beyond and actually highlights anti-war feeling among sectors of the population. I’m not entirely sure this reflects the actuality of Japanese public feeling of the time, but for sure post-war Japan had seen significant turning of opinion against those that lead the Country into the global conflict they found themselves in following the U.S entrance into the second world war.

But enough of politics, we’re here for entertainment not being brow beaten, how did the Big G look on screen you may well ask? Once again Toho nails it with both CGI and the traditional suit making an appearance. Godzilla was looking way past cool, and for a change for modern audiences managed to look seriously pissed off throughout Minus One. While Hollywood has pretty much turned the Big G into a cardboard cut-out character with dubious intentions, Toho have taken the big fella back to his origins, which pretty much is the current thinking in Japanese movie circles, namely a force for the planet dealing out a good spanking to those pesky humans that are upsetting balances. I was more than excited to see a return to Godzilla firing up his nuclear breath, love how that was handled, and it gave the viewing audience a chance to catch their breath before destruction ensued.

While the main focus is of course Godzilla director Takashi Yamazaki isn’t pushing his human characters to the side-line, and in fact it could be argued that Yamazaki is more interested in the human side of the gunboat than simply pushing a big monster mayhem flick. Koichi, his adopted love interest Noriko Oishi, the orphan girl they adopt, and Koichi’s mates are displayed as suffering from their experiences in the War which devastated their country and the immediate aftermath of that war. While Koichi is still fighting his war, and I can’t emphasis enough the feeling of shame Koichi is feeling for having wimped out, everyone else is to a greater or lesser degree also still suffering. The Director nails this, and explores to a certain degree, a defeated Nation still living in the smouldering ruins of a Nation mislead by their political masters. For sure there is an anti-war feeling prevailing in the movie, as Yamazaki tells a story that is often overlooked, those from a defeated Nation that must rise to face new dangers and save what is left of their society.

I was particular impressed with Yamazaki’s handling of the scenes on the tugboat Koichi agrees to join, hey money is tight, which is tasked with destroying mines left over from the war in the shipping lanes. I was really getting a Jaws feeling from these scenes, I’m not saying Yamazaki is the Japanese Spielberg, but the first few scenes are reminiscent of the opening days/nights on the Orca. We get further insight into the thoughts and feelings of ex-military people, now tasked with a dangerous task but taking time out of their busy schedule to establish their motivations and why they are back in harm’s way. At least Koichi shows he is good with a mounted machine gun, which is going to be important later in the movie, and for all intents and purposes is very competent at what he does, which strangely highlights the shame he still feels for his actions, or should that be non-action, during the War.

While Godzilla made the scene earlier in the movie, that is a Dad joke by the way, it is his appearance behind the tugboat that really nails things. The Big G is angry, looks psychopathic, and is clearly not going to be taking prisoners. Later the Big Fella really nails his colours to the wall via causing more damage in Tokyo than could be expected by a pissed English soccer crowd of thugs. Actually the less said about the effects during these scenes the better, but the attack on Tokyo does drive the plot on as it directly effects Koichi, who believes he has lost his love interest. It also leads to the Japanese Government throwing their weight behind a plan to finally eradicate the giant lizard menace. I’m actually thankful that we got a return to the Godzilla that is simply a force of nature, without any weird motivations twisted to meet a plot that makes zero sense in real terms, looking at you Hollywood, Toho generally has their plots tighter than a fish’s bum generally.

After a number of Hollywood Godzilla movies that could be best described as summer blockbuster fodder it was an excellent surprise to get back to what is good about the franchise. We get an above average script, excellent performances from all the cast members, and solid enough special effects overlaying some above average locations. All in all, I can’t wait for a possible sequel, there is definitely room for one, and would be more than happy to sit through the further adventures of Koichi and his offsiders. Naturally a full recommendation here, one of the best movies of the year, and for sure it has a re-watch element that should come into play for most viewers. Hold onto your linen kids, this is movie making like it should be, serious, well-constructed and a privilege to view. Entertainment doesn’t come much better in the dark genre; ensure you don’t miss this one.