"Godzilla Minus One" - Review

Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a kamikaze pilot in the latter days of World War 2. He turns his plane around to get unnecessary repairs on an island, rather than face the enemy, only for something monstrous to attack. Though he freezes and flees, he survives the event, haunted by his survival and what he saw that day... Returning to Tokyo to find his family dead and his city in ruins, he tries to move on and live with the guilt, the pain and the crippling PTSD. But then the beast rises once again, and Shikishima must confront his past, and that of his nation...

Honestly a triumph, swinging out of the gates to show the world how it's done.
The central character piece is stirring, fantastic work, and anchors the whole affair wonderfully. It is a strong throughline, and the payoff is outstanding. It's a sense of dread and trauma, collectively experienced, throughout. The supporting characters back it too: the always welcome and incredible Sakura Ando plays a neighbour who lost everybody she loved in the bombing raids, for example, and the film has a few things to say about the war, Imperialism, the government and other things... I found myself a bit choked up towards the end, particularly with a plotline about closure with a limping mechanic... The movie has fun, actually pretty tense moments on a boat with some mines early on, very reminiscent of "Jaws" and actually a tad creepy and sinister, and when the big beast you've been waiting for shows up, it's spectacular.
The finale more than earns its key beats, the supporting characters are lovely, it's all I've come to want and expect from a "Godzilla" movie (when that classic theme kicks in? Fuck yes), and comes to a tight, satisfying conclusion and finale. It doesn't lose momentum, and tosses aside annoying comic relief, in favour of a streamlined love of carnage, trauma and the futility of war.
Godzilla's a fucking dick in this too.