“Godzilla Minus Zero”: Monster mayhem meets human drama

The superstar reptile gets on the good foot to do the bad thing again in the action sequel "Godzilla Minus Zero."

Godzilla Minus Zero

Starring Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Kuranosuke Saski, Jun Kunimura, Mio Tanaka, Sakura Ando, Masami Nagasawa, Min Tanaka and Hidetaka Yoshioka. Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Now playing in theatres everywhere. 135 minutes. 14A

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (out of 4)

Peter Howell

Movie Critic

Collective guilt and grief, parental angst and a singular lust for vengeance keep the melodrama high in writer, director and VFX ace Takashi Yamazaki’s sequel to his Oscar-winning “Godzilla Minus One.”

This is mostly a good thing; Yamazaki’s focus on the human cost of WWII and the ensuing monster mayhem helped make his 2023 reboot of the kaiju classic a spectacle worth remembering.

The new film is set in 1949, four years after the war and two years after the events of the first story.

Former kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), his new wife Noriko (Minami Hamabe) and their young adopted daughter, Akiko (Sae Nagatani), are trying to build a new life together. But monster attacks keep jeopardizing their joy and threatening not just their family’s future but the safety of many of their fellow Japanese.

Yamazaki’s multiple plotlines get a bit tangled this time, but thankfully his flair for IMAX-worthy action remains intact, especially when ferocious winged menace King Ghidorah, one of Godzilla’s oldest foes, is on screen.

The movie should end with “TO BE CONTINUED.” It certainly feels like there’s a lot more story to be told. 🌛