'Godzilla Minus Zero' review: A bigger, darker, R-rated sequel
The Boston Globe · Odie Henderson ·
Everyone’s favorite kaiju is back in this thrilling follow-up to "Godzilla Minus One."
“Godzilla Minus Zero” continues the story of guilt-ridden WWII kamikaze pilot Kôichi Shikishima (Ryûnosuke Kamiki) and his makeshift family from 2023’s Oscar-winning “Godzilla Minus One.” As in that film, writer-director-F/X designer Takashi Yamazaki mixes the expected kaiju destruction with a surprising focus on human emotion and domestic travails. Unlike the Marvel Comics Universe movies, Yamazaki doesn’t sugarcoat the cost of all that carnage; the audience is made aware of the price our heroes must pay.
Also, unlike most MCU movies, “Godzilla Minus Zero” comes to IMAX theaters with an R rating. It’s the first time in the creature’s seven-decade history that he’s been asked to sit at the grown-ups table. At the Q&A I attended at the New York Film Festival world premiere, Yamazaki explained that the point he wanted to make required the intensely violent scenes he shot. Though this film takes place in 1949, there are flashbacks to 1945 that remind us that Godzilla has always been an allegory.
Though the camera doesn’t shy away from showing death, I’m not convinced that the MPA rating is warranted. However, I’ve two reasons why I think it received an R: One reason is that blood is largely absent in those equally violent PG-13 rated superhero movies; people bleed in “Godzilla Minus Zero.” The other reason is more political, if you ask me, and involves a character whose intentions I’m not allowed to reveal.
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