Tropic Sprockets / Godzilla Minus One

Tropic Sprockets / Godzilla Minus One

By Ian Brockway

Other than King Kong on top of the Empire State Building, few creatures are as iconic as Godzilla in Japan. Godzilla is a prehistoric reptilian super-animal envisioned into life by the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the Lucky Dragon Five Incident. [Showtimes and trailer at Tropiccinema.com.] 

As a name Godzilla is an adaptation of the Japanese name Gojira (ゴジラ)— itself a combination of two words:
gorira
(ゴリラ), “gorilla”, and
Kujira
(クジラ), “whale. 

Godzilla the creature can be seen as a metaphor for war or even the Frankenstein condition of science gone mad. 

After 36 films and countless merchandise, here is another film set and given in the language of Japanese by director Takashi Yamazaki entitled “Godzilla Minus One.” The film manages the sleight-of-hand trick of being fresh and engaging with suspenseful action along with stirring emotion.

Kōichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a kamikaze pilot who abandoned his duty, is wracked with guilt. On a beach he sees Godzilla exert destruction. Finding himself in a position to fire upon the creature, he freezes up and most all of his peers die. His guilt is compounded tenfold.

Shell-shocked among the ruins of war and Godzilla’s wrath, he sees the alluring Noriko (Minami Hamabe) with an orphan baby girl. Kōichi is determined to make something of himself in providing for Noriko and the baby.

Unfortunately, Godzilla continues his path of treading terror, veering onto land, and destroying commercial districts including the Nippon Theater. Residents all over Japan are paralyzed and at a loss, having only recently endured a World War. Forced to act for survival itself, the Navy comes up with a plan to sink the hybrid animal.

Kōichi is compelled to act, although he has PTSD and cannot find Noriko in the chaos left by the atomic amphibian. 

Ryunosuke Kamiki is terrific in his role as a genuine existential man and he delivers real pathos, despite some unmissable chewing of the scenery, which is part of the fun. Minami Hamabe has chemistry with her co-star, and she possesses a Pop Art allure recalling Manga and Anime.

Last but certainly not least, there is a wonderful version of the original cyclic and rousing score from the Godzilla films of the past.

Camp and Kitsch are here too, but one cannot have a Godzilla film without it. The giant lizard munches on a train like a shish kebab at a barbecue. The Japanese Zero plane circling about the scaly beast recalls “King Kong” with even some anguish from the giant one. But rather than seeming an annoying cliche, the actor Kamiki makes the segment entertaining with good heart and apprehension.

Godzilla may be a gargantuan gimlet-eyed lizard, but he is also a karmic kamikaze creature himself pointing to the Toxicity of the Nuclear Age. While one film might equal all in terms of plot and circumstance, a visit from this amphibious antihero is like a visit from an old friend and you are almost comforted by his venomous and vengeful glare.

Write Ian at [email protected]

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]