The film jumps right into the action. At the end of World War II, kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) makes an unscheduled landing on Oha Island, claiming that his plane needs repaiokayUpon examination, the head mechanic, Sosaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki), informs Koichi that his plane appears to be fine, almost questioning his actions as desertion. In this quick interaction, Yamazaki establishes two of his lead characters, along with whether right or wrong, the riff between them.

When Koichi returns home to his village in Tokyo, he learns that his family and closest friends have been casualties of the war. A downtrodden Koichi seems at his lowest when a stranger named Noriko (Minami Hamabe) hands him a baby as authorities pursue her. Koichi hides the baby in his clothes as the authorities run past him. Later, Noriko finds Koichi and tells him that the baby is not hers but rather that of a family that had been killed in the bombings. Here, Yamazaki introduces us to our third main protagonist, further displaying the human element that most of the previous versions of the film failed to offer. Koichi and Noriko form a friendship (not a romance) as they plan to raise this child as their own.

We then fast forward two years. Godzilla has been quiet during this time, though his folklore lives large. Is it just a matter of time before he reemerges, or has the sea creature become satisfied living deep in the Pacific Ocean? It’s a time of great angst, so Koichi is understandably uncertain when he takes a job as a minesweeper, where he and a team of three others use a wooden boat to clear the tens of thousands of mines that were set in the seas around Japan (as an aside, this was a part of world history that I was unfamiliar with). Yamazaki uses a piece of real-world history as an integral part of the story. Koichi befriends Kenji “Doc” Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), Captain Yoji Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki), and Shiro “Kid” Mizushima (Yuki Yamada). The foursome become close outside of work, almost becoming surrogate uncles for the young baby. Yamazaki again establishes the human connection element.

Of course, we have one more showdown with Godzilla as Japan learns it is again making its way toward the land; how do you destroy a monster that seems invincible? Do you? What will happen to these characters that we have become so invested in? There is a plan in place, as well as a contingency plan. However, Japanese movies are notorious for creating movies that don’t end wrapped up in a nice little bow. The final destructive battle scene feels like one long, panic-induced take. This edge-of-the-seat stuff leaves the viewer gasping for air as much as it does the characters on screen. This is monster filmmaking showcased at its best. It was a gift to get the chance to see Godzilla Minus One in the theater.

Plot 9/10 (a Godzilla movie that actually had an understandable, albeit farfetched, plot)
Character Development 9.5/10 (I haven’t seen a monster movie care this much about the story of its characters in a long time. There were seven well-defined, likable characters)
Character Chemistry 9/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 9.5/10
Directing 10/10 (masterful)
Cinematography 10/10 (masterful)
Sound 10/10 (I can still hear that shrill in my head)
Hook and Reel 9/10 (Godzilla appears within the first five minutes)
Universal Relevance 9/10 (terror is real)
94%

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• Reign of Fire
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