The acclaimed kaiju film – which won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects – is now finally available for UK viewers on Netflix.
Like Godzilla himself, the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One has finally trudged across vast oceans and arrived on our shores, although this time, the gargantuan monster has come via Netflix rather than a ginormous body of water.
As you’d expect, Godzilla’s triumphant return to Japanese cinema was absolutely worth the wait. Separate from any American fare or even previous Godzilla films made by Toho Studios, Minus One is a standalone film that takes us back to basics in post-war Japan. But the latest entry in this 70 year old franchise is anything but basic.
Godzilla Minus One follows a former WWII kamikaze pilot named Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), who ended up on Odo Island just as a monster soon to be named Godzilla shows up and destroys the place. Only Kōichi and mechanic Sōsaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki) survived, but even two years later, the guilt of surviving when the others didn’t still plagues his every moment.
So when Godzilla rears his scaly head again, heading for mainland Japan no less, Kōichi sets out to save his country and find redemption, but most importantly of all, he wants to protect the new family he’s created with his partner, Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe), and their adopted daughter Akiko (Sae Nagatani).
Godzilla Minus One ending explained
Following Godzilla’s first attack on Tokyo, Noriko and thousands of other Japanese citizens remain unaccounted for, with many presumed dead. The danger isn’t over just yet, though. Mutated through exposure to postwar nuclear weapons, the threat of Godzilla is inevitable, yet the United States refuses to help, and Japan itself also fears rocking the boat internationally with new warfare across the ocean. That means it’s up to civilians like Kōichi to save the day.
A former Navy officer named Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) leads the charge with a smart plan to use Freon tanks against Godzilla. By attaching them to the monster, he can theoretically be pulled so far under the surface of the ocean that the pressure will destroy him. If that doesn’t work, pressurised balloons will then quickly force Godzilla back up to the surface, killing him via explosive decompression. It’s a genius move, using the ocean’s strength to defeat what they cannot, but both plans fall at the last hurdle. That means Godzilla isn’t dead. He’s just injured and p****d off, which is far from ideal.
Thank goodness for Kōichi, then. Sensing the plan might not work, he prepared earlier by asking Sōsaku to repair a kamikaze plane he could use to fly directly into Godzilla’s mouth, exploding in that vulnerable spot where the monster’s hide can no longer protect it. It works, bringing redemption to Kōichi after he failed his previous kamikaze mission. Except, he never failed. Living the life he did post-war was more important than a meaningless death in the name of battle. And by surviving that, Kōichi lived long enough to save countless more people by ending Godzilla’s devastating rampage.
Still, his sacrifice here is perhaps even more devastating, for us at least. But then we discover that Sōsaku secretly added an ejection mechanism to Kōichi’s plane, which Kōichi used to escape Godzilla’s jaws at the very last moment. As if that wasn’t shocking enough, we then discover that Noriko is still alive too, and the pair are set to reunite as a happy family with Akiko. No, we’re not crying. You’re crying. Except, wait. Get ready to cry even more because it turns out that Noriko is suffering from radiation poisoning from the atomic bombs that hit Japan a few years earlier.
Or is she? While many assumed that the dark mark on Noriko’s neck had sealed her fate, it turns out that what we’re actually seeing here is G-cells (as confirmed by director Takashi Yamazaki at Godzilla Fest in Osaka). In Godzilla lore, G-cells are an anomaly that led to the creation of various Godzilla rivals including Biollante and SpaceGodzilla, which means that future instalments could lead to the appearance of these new creatures in some form. But they’re not going to replace Godzilla himself. Absolutely not. Because everyone’s favourite beastie isn’t going anywhere if the final scene of Godzilla Minus One is anything to go by.
At the end, we see a piece of Godzilla’s body bubbling strangely on the ocean floor, as if it were still alive. Knowing that this creature possesses incredible healing capabilities, it’s entirely possible, almost certain in fact, that Godzilla is actually regenerating from just that one piece of flesh.
While that big reveal means a sequel continuing the story of Minus One is more than likely, the film itself isn’t as concerned with Hollywood-style franchise tropes as you might think.
At first glance, the hero’s sacrifice might be exactly the kind of ending that American films in particular value so much. But the shame Kōichi felt for previously “failing” as a kamikaze pilot was misplaced. Redemption doesn’t come from sacrifice or even from defeating Godzilla, really. No, the most valuable thing Kōichi can do now is live his life with family, and live it well, which is infinitely more important than a blockbuster-style victory.
And sure, Godzilla’s return is reminiscent of everything from slasher movie cliffhangers to a MCU post credits scene, but beyond the inevitable sequel setup, knowing the monster remains hidden just below the surface also speaks to the trauma that would haunt Japan for years to come following the tragedy of war. Because Godzilla is a creature born of war, literally as a personification of atomic power, but also figuratively as an enduring reminder of the devastation Japan endured as well.
Godzilla Minus One is now streaming on Netflix – sign up from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.