Godzilla Minus Zero

While the follow-up might be missing some of the filmmaking ingenuity that made the last entry so special (nothing quite matches that Jaws-inspired boat chase), it more than makes up for it with a grander spectacle and more heart-wrenching drama that grapples directly with the literal fallout of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is the right kind of doubling down.

With devastating human drama and earth-shaking kaiju action, Godzilla Minus Zero ups the ante in every way from its predecessor – and is easily one of the best films of the year.

Another mid-century melodrama with very occasional monster sightings, the more thematically coherent and emotionally affecting Godzilla Minus Zero expands on the naive grassroots nationalism of its predecessor by reframing that movie’s characters from victims to survivors.

It’s a great Godzilla sequel, maybe even one of the best, but it’s not one of the great Godzilla movies

“Minus Zero” doesn’t quite reach the miraculous highs of its predecessor, but the old boy still has plenty of bite.

Godzilla Minus Zero doesn’t disappoint in the slightest on the kaiju front, but does lack the same level of emotional resonance that its predecessor held.

At its finest, it roars with thunderous majesty—but that, regrettably, is far too rare for a wannabe-epic monster mash.