Seventy years after the original, Godzilla Minus One is one of the best giant monster movies ever made.
Hollywood should take note.
Godzilla Minus Oneis a rare beast.
3s price tag).
Here are some of the key lessons.
Many times the results can be talented folks standing around spouting exposition between set pieces.
AndGodzilla Minus Onedoes not deviate from this rule.
Yet its worth noting that even that carnage does not occur until the five-minute mark.
In other words, more than half an hour passes between set pieces.
This in turn often necessitates heavy reshoots and down-to-the-wire VFX work and reworkings.
By virtue of its budget,Godzilla Minus Onecould not afford such indecision or behind-the-scenes chaos.
Which is to say that American blockbusters have come to rely on jokes as a crutch for subpar cinema.
This is not a pox on any one film or franchise per se.
Godzilla Minus Oneis nothing but provocation.
The film is also about how to humanely live in the aftermath of such dehumanizing horror.
To be clear, American blockbusters are not altogether vacuous by comparison.
By and large, U.S. tentpoles are designed to be disposable and patit makes them easier to mass produce.
Spectacle Needs Human Scale
Godzilla is, of course, a spectacle.
You cant make a subtle movie about a giant lizard with atomic breath.
However,Godzilla Minus Oneunderstands that spectacle doesnt work without people in the literal frame.
We viewers dont get dazzled by the abstract.
We have to see ourselves in relation to the outsized.
Seeing them in the same shot as the monstrous Godzilla makes his size immense, and his threat tangible.
The boat subplot, of course, recallsJaws, but not in any obvious way.
No one crushes a can/cup or suggests a bigger boat.
