Godzilla Minus Zero – Review

Godzilla Minus Zero is not only the best the giant reptile has ever looked on the big screen, but it is also one of the best movies of the year. I am glad that Minus Zero is finally here and that I can tell the world how incredible this movie is. It gets so many things right that it is easy to overlook its shortcomings.

Godzilla Minus Zero took me through different emotions over its two-hour runtime. I became attached to the characters and even found myself starting to care about Godzilla. The film made me laugh, cry and cheer. Luckily, the people in the cinema could not hear me screaming at Godzilla. This is a film that covers everything, with each element flowing seamlessly into the next.

I watched Godzilla Minus One not too long ago, so naturally, I did not watch the full trailers for this film. I only saw a few clips. I genuinely had no idea that it would be Godzilla versus King Ghidorah, and that was the biggest movie surprise of 2026 for me. If you did not know that either, sorry for the little spoiler.

Perfect acting

This is a Japanese film, so you need to be prepared to read subtitles. Honestly, I did not even notice them because the acting is so good. The cast includes Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yuki Yamada, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Sakura Ando and Miou Tanaka, who all reprise their roles from Minus One and deliver excellent performances. Masami Nagasawa plays the role of Makoto Aoyama, and she arguably delivers one of the best performances in the film.

Takashi Yamazaki has doubled, or perhaps even tripled, everything he got right in the first film. What I mean by that is that this is a deeper, more personal story, the action is much bigger, and even Godzilla has grown in size. Like the first film, this one is more story-driven, but it certainly does not hold back when it comes to the excellent kaiju battles.

Contains everything

Takashi Yamazaki is one of the best modern filmmakers, and he not only served as director but also wrote the screenplay and worked on the visual effects. When I say this film has some of the best visual effects I have come across this year, I mean it. The monsters look and feel real, and on top of that, it feels as though you have been transported to 1940s Japan. There are a few gruesome death scenes that simply look too real.

Godzilla Minus Zero also has one of the best soundtracks. The Ghidorah and Godzilla theme songs gave me goosebumps. I could literally feel the hair on my arms standing up. The sound design itself is flawless, and the production design is almost perfect.

So, what did I not like? There are a few story elements that lead to certain plot holes, but none of them take away from the overall storytelling. However, there is one thing I struggle with: there have been so many good movies this year that I do not know where this one will eventually fit in. For now, I do know that it is in my top 10.

It is easily four and a half out of five stars.