Director: Takashi Yamazaki

Stars: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Min Tanaka, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, Sae Nagatani

Writer-director Takashi Yamazaki’s triumphant Godzilla reboot, 2023’s ‘Godzilla Minus One’, the 38th film in the series, revitalised the beloved monster franchise (dread word!). Set in the aftermath of WWII and the Hiroshima bombing, it was a stirring tale of a people dusting themselves off and finding strength through common cause, as well as a mighty spectacle that brought a genuine sense of awe back to the series.

This the sequel, is more of a downbeat affair, once again chronicling the human cost of Kaiju war, but with hope and unity replaced with exhaustion and resignation when a new menace emerges.

It is 1949, two years after Godzilla was defeated by a ragtag band of civilians, scientists, and military. Kamikaze pilot deserter turned hero Kōichi Shikishima (Kamiki) is now married and living with partner Norika (Hamabe) and their adoptive daughter Akiko (Nagatani) in Tokyo. Norika, along with her neighbour Sumiko (Ando), is running an orphanage.

Meanwhile, scientist Kenji Noda (the excellent Yoshioka) is now running the government's Large-Scale Disaster Response Bureau, which faces a new challenge when a fearsome dragon-like creature attacks the city of Matsumoto. Initial attempts to combat the beast, named Ghidorah, prove horrifyingly counter-productive. Noda approaches former fellow Godzilla combatant Kōichi, who has mixed feelings about abandoning his adoptive family again, to pitch in in an advisory role. Eventually the team conclude that they must take very extreme measures to take out Ghidorah.

The darker and more reflective tone results in a slow middle section, while the script creaks a little as it attempts to accommodate all the characters from the previous picture, and some of the scenes of family melodrama feel overwrought and overextended.

Nevertheless, Yamazaki delivers some extraordinary scenes of carnage while making full use of this new scarily malevolent beast. One early sequence where Ghidorah exhibits its uncanny power is genuinely disturbing in its surreal horrific imagery, and an airborne chase where pilots attempt to lure the beast into a trap is thrillingly vertiginous.

Well worth catching in IMAX, which the picture was filmed for, if possible.

Godzilla Minus Zero is released on 6th November

David Willoughby

Follow David on @davidwilloughby.bsky.social