A common complaint from countless film fans is the abundance and longevity of several film franchises. Many would declare that it’s time to ‘hang it up” since the glory days are long gone. Certainly, that’s been said of lots of “tentpoles’ from ROCKY to STAR WARS, and especially James Bond. Oh, and then there are the horror IP’s, which were skewered in the recent TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA so well. How many times can Jason, Freddy, and even Dracula return from their graves? Well, here’s a film that proves there’s always a chance to imbue old ideas with new cinematic life, much as Dr. Frankenstein would throw a switch and jolt his creature upright from its slumber. Now, this weekend’s new film could be considered both horror and science fiction, perhaps even a “disaster flick”. But the title star began even before Bond, as this is his 34th feature. There was a time when his movies lapsed and became the butt of pop culture jokes (the dubbing, the cheesy plots and effects). Well, with the grim “return to basics” of 2016’s SHIN GODZILLA, nobody’s laughing at the green, scaly superstar. After the US studios took another try with him (he’s a staple of the Monarch monster-verse), a team of talented Asian filmmakers reclaimed him in 2023 with the retro “back to the beginning” blockbuster GODZILLA MINUS ONE, which even won a special effects Oscar (a series first). Happily, everyone is back in the fantastic follow-up GODZILLA MINUS ZERO.

The film opens a couple of years after MINUS ONE, 1949, as another city in Japan, Matsumoto, is under attack by another “kaiju”, a winged, dragon-like behemoth. One of the few survivors (barely) is the renowned scientist/doctor Kanji Murakami (Min Tanaka) and his assistant. Meanwhile, Dr. Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) welcomes a new member of his Large-Scale Disaster Response Unit team, a young meteorologist, Makoto (Masami Nagasawa). In another part of town, Noriko (Minami Hamabe) and her husband, former pilot Koichi (Ryunsuke Kamiki), are living a tranquil life, raising their adopted young daughter, Akiko (Sae Nagatani), though Noriko still bears the scars of her brush with Godzilla. Their peace is shattered when Koichi is called in by Noda to guide his old group of flyers (Koichi has vowed never to take to the skies again) in a plan to destroy this new menace that has been named Ghidorah. After a harrowing dogfight in the clouds, an electrical device doesn’t kill the creature. Instead, it morphs into something far deadlier. When (King) Ghidorah goes into a short hibernation, Murakami and Noda are shocked to learn that a ship was sunk by the thought-to-be-destroyed Godzilla. The two unhappily agree that the only way to stop the new menace is to utilize their old menace, and hopefully instigate a fight to the death, then try to eliminate the wounded victor. But how do they bring in the “Big G”? Murakami creates a “resonance beacon” that could draw Godzilla to them, but he needs living tissue similar to the beast. Their only hope may be the evolving scars of the still-traumatized Noriko, but there’s a chance that she could perish in the attempt. Will this happy family endure even more heartbreak? Could Koichi go back into the cockpit? And will Japan and the rest of the world survive a colossal “smackdown” between King Ghidorah and the returning “king of the monsters”, Godzilla? Whew, can you imagine the spike in insurance premiums?

Talk about your multiplex movie roller coaster! Wow, this is a more than worthy follow-up to the “outta’ nowhere” classic “reboot’ from 2023. It truly builds upon the strengths of that one, especially the “human story”. A complaint about the 60s and 70s G flicks was the often dull “reg’lar running, screaming, and trying to stop the chaos”. For many, well, carnage-lovin’ kiddos, it was an interminable wait until the fun stompin’ would resume. Again, we’re invested in them and are happy to get an “update”. That’s the case with the “joined by tragedy” family of Noriko, Koichi, and the achingly-adorable Akiko, though all struggle with PTSD. The character who suffers even more than the trio is Murakami, played with gravitas and sorrow by the terrific Tanaka. He’s endured destruction at the hands (claws) of Godzilla, but also from the atomic bomb (the flashbacks are haunting) at Hiroshima. This lays the groundwork for one of the best sequences as Murakami imagines a kaiju calamity for us in the US. And the occupying forces play a big role here, as an uneasy alliance is forged to fight the creatures (there’s a lot of mistrust four years after the end of engagement). But, hey, you’re here for the big monster fights. This delivers “big time’ from aerial skirmishes with King G to the nautical “dunking” by Big G. Of course, the two finally have a true “clash of the titans”, flattening what little is left of Ginza (the OG locale), culminating in a nail-biting effort from the human to spring an ingenious trap. As you might assume, this all looks extremely epic and grand, presented in IMAX (like THE ODYSSEY; their cameras were used). All hail returning director and visual effects supervisor, Takashi Yamazaki, who has extended the rich world of the 2023 film, while deftly accenting post-war Japan’s traumas. A few fans are squawking about the limited screen time for the Big G, since he’s sharing time here with King G, while others are enjoying the intro of a worthy adversary (and his levitating ray is “rad”). It was said three years ago, and it bears repeating, that there’s lots of thrills and wonder left in the decades-old kaiju royalty showcased in the somehow intimate epic that is GODZILLA MINUS ZERO.

3.5 out of 4

GODZILLA MINUS ZERO is now playing in theatres everywhere