Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Godzilla turns 70 next year, and to celebrate, his parent company Toho Studios released a very conventional Godzilla movie, one that won an academy award. The story is this: Set in 1946, “Godzilla Minus One” follows a spiritually depleted group of ex-military men as they rally to vanquish everyone’s favorite kaiju antihero. Here, Godzilla’s presence is a given, as it probably should be after dozens of movies and spinoff projects. If traumatized survivors like disgraced kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima can’t stop Godzilla, he will destroy Ginza and then stomp all over Tokyo. Koichi is motivated by survivor’s guilt. In an establishing scene on Odo Island, Koichi takes aim at Godzilla but can’t bring himself to shoot. As a result, several fellow army men die, leaving Koichi to bury their bodies. Reviving Koichi’s ultimately patriotic mojo takes priority since that sort of nationalistic passion is apparently essential to fighting Godzilla. I have to say, this was my last choice in the category that it won in, but I suspect that there is an element of nostalgia that propelled it forward in the voting. If you are a Godzilla fan, this will likely appeal, but if not, maybe not.