As far as best movies of the year go, this is one of them. Godzilla Minus One is, in my mind, an ode to telling the world that insanely large budgets and brown-washed conformity to a specific style is unnecessary, and sometimes unwanted.

It happens every year. I watch superhero film after superhero film until I am numb, and then a movie comes out and I see it. And it’s NOT a superhero film, but it is so superior that it feels like a man who didn’t know he was drowning has gasped air for the first time in who knows how long. It happened with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and it has happened again here. 

What’s quite interesting is that this movie is quite the opposite of the last movie in the franchise that is Godzilla. Shin-Godzilla took a far colder approach to humanity, expanding it ever outward to showcase a community of people banding together to take charge and eliminate a nearly insurmountable threat. Shin-Goji, like Minus One, was very much a commentary on the state of Japan – just as the original Gojira was back in 1954, showcasing the fear and doubt of the allegedly impending atomic age. 

Where Shin and Minus One differ, however, is in the portrayal of humanity. Shin, as stated previously, was shown on a macro level. People coming together to stop the threat. For Minus One we are pulled in, and we are pulled in hard. We see the lives of each person in this film. We see their struggles in a post WWII era. Our hearts are wrenched to-and-fro as we see the impact that happens in this catastrophic event. 

There is no right answer when it comes to which movie did it better. I have my own opinion but I absolutely adored both films and wouldn’t change either of them for the world.

One thing can easily be said, though. The well of Godzilla is far from tapped.