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'GODZILLA MINUS ONE' IS ONE OF THE BEST WAR MOVIES IN YEARS



(Photo courtesy of Toho Studios)
Military.com | By Steve Beynon
Published January 08, 2024 at 11:23am ET

If Hollywood movie-making in 2023 was largely defined by the summer
"Barbenheimer" craze and growing superhero blockbuster fatigue, then the autumn
release "Godzilla Minus One" was something of a sleeper hit for the beleaguered
film industry. The 37th film in the 70-year-old "Godzilla" franchise, the movie
has grossed more than $81 million on a modest $15 million budget and done so to
both audience and critical acclaim. It is, as many critics believe, among the
best installments in the franchise's winding history, "a feast for the eyes
[and] an entertaining epic in every sense of the word," as The Hollywood
Reporter put it.

But this is no silly monster mash or kaiju frenzy, which accurately describe too
many past entries into the franchise, nor is it a heavy-handed attempt at
intellectual property-friendly world-building like the recent American
installments into the burgeoning "Godzilla" cinematic universe. Surprisingly,
"Godzilla Minus One" is quite possibly one of the best war movies since "1917,"
primarily because the film offers one of the most careful and powerful
depictions of veteran trauma ever to grace the silver screen.





There are elements of "Godzilla Minus One" that may challenge some viewers --
yes, this is a subtitled film, and the title likely makes more sense to Japanese
audiences -- but writer and director Takashi Yamazaki masterfully engages
viewers from the first frame. The story is simple: In the aftermath of World War
II, Japan has effectively hit rock bottom after near-annihilation at the hands
of the United States. Godzilla shows up in the late 1940s just as Japan is
starting to rebuild its infrastructure, wreaking even more havoc and essentially
kicking postwar Japanese society while it's already down. There is destruction;
there is atomic breath.

But the story of "Godzilla Minus One" is, at its core, the story of a man. In
the final days of World War II, kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima diverts from
his suicide mission and lands at a remote Japanese base on the fictional Odo
Island, lying about a mechanical failure. It's there that he and a team of
mechanics are attacked by a dinosaur-like creature, which will later mutate from
nuclear tests to become Godzilla. Shikishima has the opportunity to kill the
monster, but chokes and leaves a dozen fellow soldiers to die before escaping.

When Shikishima comes home after a war, his Tokyo neighborhood is in ruins, with
families around him mourning the deaths of those killed in the U.S.-led
firebombing campaign. His neighbor immediately scorns Shikishima for being a
coward due to his status as the only soldier in the area to return from war,
blaming him for Japan's defeat. No, the film isn't pro-kamikaze or
anti-American, as some might interpret it: Instead, the script offers a scathing
rebuke of Imperial Japan and how its government fought a lost cause during World
War II while never caring for its troops, using suicide tactics as a key weapon
against American forces.

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Shikishima feels immense shame for not carrying out his duties and sadly admits
he never saw combat in the war. Throughout the film, he develops feelings for a
woman but can't pursue any romantic or physical relationship with her because he
feels too emasculated, much to her dismay. In many cases, veteran trauma in film
comes across as cartoonish, reduced to a thousand-yard stare or a confusing trip
to the cereal aisle at the grocery store. Even when handled carefully, its
inclusion is often all too brief, minimized to make room for the cool battle
scenes with door-kickers. But Shikishima doesn't get into brawls, he isn't an
alcoholic and he doesn't romanticize the idea of dying on the battlefield like
Lt. Dan. Instead, he's unnervingly quiet and constantly seeking subtle ways to
pay his perceived debt to society, like taking care of a child or taking a
dangerous job clearing sea mines.


The character of kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima in 'Godzilla Minus One.'
(Photo courtesy of Toho Studios)

This is what makes "Godzilla Minus One" more than just a standard kaiju flick.
Godzilla has relatively little screen time and is, in many ways, not the point
of the movie. The monster is a stand-in for trauma, and not just for our
protagonist Shikishima -- every character projects their own experience from
World War II onto the towering lizard. One scene shows the aftermath of
Godzilla's rampage, which is almost identical to images of Nagasaki and
Hiroshima in the aftermath of the 1945 atomic bombings. Of course, there are set
pieces of Godzilla stomping on buildings, but those are the least interesting
scenes in the movie.

In 2021, I reported on troops who felt guilty they missed out on combat during
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's probably a taboo subject and
underreported that some troops want to see combat and some feel some level of
shame if they never had their opportunity. In "Godzilla Minus One," this anxiety
is represented by a younger Japanese man who was too young to fight and "missed
out," and is quickly corrected by veterans and told his inexperience is a
virtue.

"Godzilla Minus One" is the pinnacle of monster films and will likely be looked
at as a leader in that genre for decades, but it also deserves to sit next to
"Saving Private Ryan"and "Full Metal Jacket" as a classic war film. More
importantly, it is one of the best representations of the experience of military
veterans I've ever seen, and will surely be hard to top -- and the only thing
that could sully it is a rushed sequel that sees Godzilla sent into space or
pitted against a robot version of himself.


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Story Continues
Related Topics: Under the Radar - Entertainment News Entertainment Movies Japan


STEVE BEYNON



Steve Beynon is a reporter for Military.com based out of the Washington D.C.
area whose detailed investigations have covered urgent issues impacting
soldiers. Read Full Bio

© Copyright 2024 Military.com. All rights reserved. This article may not be
republished, rebroadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written
permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Military.com,
please submit your request here.
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