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I was debating writing something over on c/godzilla, but since this thread is up I think I’ll share my thoughts here.

Overall I enjoyed it and recommend it, but I have a few reservations. Mostly that it suffers in comparison to minus one, which I found to be far more rich and resonant.

Minus one had a tight focus on character and theme, and Godzilla, when he showed up, functioned as a symbol and metaphor to explore those themes. But in minus zero, that is reversed, with the emphasis on spectacle at the cost of character and story. Minus one was so character driven that you could take Godzilla out of the movie entirely, change very little else, and for the most part still be able to tell the same story. I don’t think that’s true of minus zero.

But if the character and story driven elements of the first film took a backseat to spectacle in the second, man oh man, what a spectacle it was. On that level minus zero succeeds exceptionally well. It’s not that I dislike minus zero; it’s just that minus one set the bar so high, and minus zero didn’t quite live up to it, or at least not for me. I’d love to hear what others think though.

It’s a bit melodramatic, hammy in the acting, lots of stating the obvious - very anime/Japanese lol. But I don’t care lol I just feel privileged to see Godzilla on the big screen! The blaring horns when his theme song kicks in will always be such a thrill. Also somehow I managed to avoid spoilers and was genuinely surprised by the “new threat”😁

Ghidora was brilliantly executed! So much that I didn’t really mind that Godzilla had so little screentime. The first attempt at killing him all the way to his evolution and destroying the town was the best sequence in the film. The crack and boom sound of his lightning beams was amazing in IMAX. Ghidora’s theme is fantastic and a great contrast to Godzilla’s.

The human element wasn’t as strong as in Minus One. I wish it was focused on the old guy instead of the two leads from the previous film. They didn’t really have anything new for the original characters outside of Noriko having the Godzilla gene. They could’ve centered it around the old guy and his quest for revenge no matter the cost (using Noriko and killing innocent civilians by directing godzilla at NY).

The couple taking the kid with them anyway after an overextended dramatic scene was a cop out IMO. The scene went on too long and it would’ve worked only if they actually left her behind.

Overall still a great (but very loud) movie in IMAX and I’m going for a rewatch next week.