Hey All, PCR here!
So, late to the party here, but just re-subbed to Netflix with the sole intent of watching ‘Godzilla Minus One’.. and I have some thoughts.
I watched it once, but will be watching it a second time with a different audio option. On first watch through, I watched it dubbed… mostly because it was late, I wanted to watch it, but was lazy enough that I didn’t want to split focus between watching and reading.
First.. the cons…
– The main character of Shikishima is honestly, kind of a dick. Yes, I get the PTSD aspect and that his inner war ‘isn’t over’, but until the very end, I didn’t feel he had a whole lot of depth and range.
– One of the main things I found most jarring was that it felt very cliche to the Late 70s Godzilla movies, which, if that is what it was going for.. was spot on. But combining the sort of ‘trope’ “Godzilla humans” in a movie that had such amazing effects.. it almost felt off putting to me at times.
– Speaking of effects, the only thing I *didn’t* like was how he moved on land sometimes. On Odo Island, he was a formidable beast. Then, later, in Ginza, he was a thrashing, tail-bashing, city-destroyer. Once we get to Tokyo, he was walking around the city like a guy at 3am up to take a piss with the lights off and trying not to step on his son’s LEGOs. It felt very reminiscent of the rubber suit, which made me a bit sad based off how amazing the visuals were.
…and let’s talk about those visuals…
Pros…
– The visual effects of Godzilla were absolutely amazing. The scene where he’s chasing the boat… him powering up the heat-ray… the effects of the warships exploding.. I mean.. there were more than a few times where I sat bolt upright, eyes wide going ‘holy shit…’. Honestly, I can’t think of one flaw in the visuals of the movie at all, it was an amazingly stunning piece of cinema.
Not really a pro or a con, but the one thing I guess I personally didn’t need was the ‘flashback’ of Tachibana explaining the ejector seat to Shikishima. When he showed him the ‘safety lever’ for the bombs, and to ‘pull it just before’, I knew exactly where it was headed, and felt like going back and explaining it wasn’t giving the audience enough credit for following along.
All and all though, certainly worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet.
What are YOUR thoughts? Sound off on our socials!
– PCR
