Godzilla Minus One (2023)

20240727:
I did not know (having really only watched the first three Godzilla movies in the Monsterverse) that a Godzilla movie could have so much depth.

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 97% match. I decided to give the movie two thumbs up
Rating: 5.4/5

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Instant Comments:
1a: Nice. This movie gets straight to Godzilla straight off.
1a: That doesn't make sense. If Godzilla is a known monster. Then people must have tried to kill it before. ("A 20mm gun is enough to kill anything.") [also the fact that "we're mechanics we don't know how to shoot" seems like a sily excuse. Just pull the trigger; maybe he meant mentally]
1a: He seems more like a huge t-rex here.
1a: What? Who lined the bodies up?
1a: "All because you didn't shoot." Well there's no guarantee that shooting would have done anything.
1a: Oh. Kamikaze pilot (but he didn't go through with it)
1a: Wow. What an interesting makeshift family. And he's willing to sacrifice his life for an advance pay for Noriko and Akiko
1a: He's a good shot. (He says just training)
1a: Aww... Akiko called him daddy and he told her he's not her father...
1a: Wow. Regeneration
1a: Wow. The drama and emotions in this movie are deep compared to Monster universe movies.
1a: I did not see that coming. Noriko saves him and sacrifices herself
1b: Resume at the 1hr15min mark
1b: "My war isn't over yet"; protagonist [Kōichi Shikishima] is a very complex character; very refreshing to see a protagonist that isn't the ideal brave and courageous hero
1b: Hmm. I'm not sure I would understand the message here. As he avoided kamikaze and now he is putting it back on the table. It would in essense redeem himself but again the message of the movie would then be one I don't understand
1b: Hmm. Kenji Noda gives a speech about not sacrificing lives and in the next scene they don't let the young one go
1b: Tachibana looks at the chair. Maybe he'll rig an ejector seat (which Noda mentioned in his speech) and no one has to die
1b: I feel my eyes swelling as he tucks Akiko's arms under the blanket...
1b: More feelings. He pulls out the photos and the drawing by Akiko
1b: Ah-ha. "One more thing" and it pulls away, but he taps the chair.
1b: Hmm. That's smart. Seems like they sent a decoy to burn his beam (there's probably a sort of cooldown on his ultimate)
1b: the subtitles call it a heat ray. says "heat ray charging"
1b: That's so clutch last second on the ejector lever
1b: Teary eye again as it shows the playback on the scene where Tachibana communicates the ejector seat addition
1b: Wow. I let out some breathes and a tear or two drops as Noriko asks "Koichi, is your war finally over?" I cannot remember the last time a movie drew such emotion from me. Maybe Toy Story 3.
1b: Hmm... they show Godzilla regenerating.
1b: The credits end with hearing Godzilla's footsteps
1a=20240727, 1b=20240728

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Watched first half 20240727, second half 20240728 (Netflix, Instant) (English audio)
Godzilla Minus One (2023) Takashi Yamazaki. 124 min

Relevant Links:
Godzilla Minus One (IMDb.com)
Godzilla Minus One (RottenTomatoes.com)
Godzilla Minus One (Wikipedia.org)