Summary

• Godzilla Minus One takes audiences back to the monster's roots in post-WWII Japan, where civilians must fight Godzilla without government aid.
• The film explores the personal struggles of characters like Kōichi Shikishima, a kamikaze pilot grappling with his own courage and motivations.
• Director Takashi Yamazaki aims to make Godzilla's rampages scarier than ever, with the goal of moving and entertaining audiences through the characters' bravery.

After seven decades of seeing the creature terrify modern settings, Godzilla Minus One is going back to its roots and exploring one of its earliest stories yet. Set in 1945 shortly after World War II, the movie sees postwar Japan being terrified by the eponymous monster and centers on the country's efforts to put a stop to his new reign of terror, while also exploring some of the humans at the heart of it all, including Kōichi Shikishima, a kamikaze pilot grappling with his lack of courage to go through with killing himself to take out his foes.

The ensemble Godzilla Minus One cast includes Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki. Harking back to the franchise's roots of political allegories, the movie explores the same themes of Godzilla representing Mother Earth striking back at humanity for unleashing nuclear weapons, as well as the tenacity of those in Japan struggling to forge a new path in life following the destructive nature of World War II on the country.

Ahead of the movie's release, Screen Rant interviewed writer/director Takashi Yamazaki and star Ryunosuke Kamiki to discuss Godzilla Minus One. The duo discussed the exciting prequel, wanting to push the envelope and make the depiction of the eponymous creature the scariest yet and exploring the drama of postwar Japan.

Yamazaki & Kamiki Talk Godzilla Minus One

Screen Rant: The film has such a unique setting, the immediate post-war period. Can you talk about choosing this time period, with the political turmoil of Japan searching for a new identity, in telling your Godzilla story?

Takashi Yamazaki: The biggest reason I set the story in post-WWII is that, as a story, I thought it would be interesting. You're in a situation where there's no government, and there's no weapons. Civilians are just left to their knowledge and resources to fight Godzilla. That was really the biggest reason. And, personally, as the writer/director, I think the Japanese government isn't really doing much, so I do find there are similarities between then and now. And so then, Godzilla arrives in this time of turmoil, and these civilians are now finding that they have to fight Godzilla. I thought that would make for an interesting story.

Kamiki-san, your role in the film is incredible, a tremendous addition to this story. He's one of the best human characters I've seen in any monster movie. Can you tell us what inspired your performance beyond just the idea of getting to fight Godzilla?

Ryunosuke Kamiki: Thank you! I felt like the challenge of the character was always balancing his motivation: is he protecting something that's important to him, or is he doing it for himself? So, the repeated theme for him is, "My war is not over." It's that regret for what happened at the end of the war with him, so does he want to defeat Godzilla because he has regrets about the war? Or does he want to defeat Godzilla because he wants to protect Noriko and Akiko? For myself, it was always about maintaining a balance between those two. Another thing that was really challenging was, Shikishima is in darkness at the beginning. He's lost so much and experienced a lot. As he rebuilds human relationships, he brings light back into the darkness.

Yamazaki-san, there's incredible scenes of destruction, and you're well known for your VFX work in addition to directing films. Tell me about the balance of making Godzilla's rampages scary and menacing, maybe more than we've ever seen before, but still entertaining for audiences who want to see Godzilla break some stuff.

Takashi Yamazaki: For myself, when it comes to people being entertained, it's measured by how much one is moved, whether they're scared or happy. Our goal was to make our Godzilla scary. It would actually, then, really emphasize what all the human characters have to overcome. So all the civilians, they work together in the finale, but to achieve that, it was important to have Godzilla be more scary, so they all have to work together to be brave. That's why the beam, his atomic beam, is that much scarier. At that point, it's the strongest weapon on Earth. It was important to make him scary so that people are moved, as part of being entertained.

Godzilla's gone through so many changes over the last 70 years, and this is the big anniversary for him. He's been scary, he's been silly, he's been heroic. My favorite has always been the scary Godzilla, the very first movie is probably my favorite, aside from this one! What's your favorite Godzilla?

Takashi Yamazaki: Hands down, the same as you, Godzilla 1954. Or, Godzilla "Prime," if you will. But along the lines of hero Godzilla, hmm, we're trying to figure out which one.

Ryunosuke Kamiki: I can't remember which one it is, exactly, but there's a Godzilla where there's another kaiju, and Godzilla goes after him, so he's not necessarily protecting humans, but it seems like he is. That was my first time I felt, "Oh, Godzilla can protect us, too!" So... That one. Seeing Godzilla as a savior for the first time, it's like, "Oh, he can actually do good!" But then, if you're in the shoes of Godzilla, he's never a human savior, he's just going after another kaiju!

About Godzilla Minus One

GODZILLA MINUS ONE, written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, sees an already devastated postwar Japan facing a new threat in the form of Godzilla. The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki, with music by Naoki Sato.

Godzilla Minus One is now in theaters!

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  Godzilla: Minus One

  Release Date:

  2023-12-01

  Director:

  Takashi Yamazaki

  Rating:

  PG-13

  Genres:

  Action, Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi

  Writers:

  Takashi Yamazaki

  Studio(s):

  Toho Studios, Robot

  prequel(s):

  Shin Godzilla

  Franchise(s):

  Godzilla

  Cast:

  Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yûki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Andō, Kuranosuke Sasaki

  Runtime:

  125 Minutes

  Distributor(s):

  Toho