The long awaited 37th film in Godzilla’s long career got a new trailer for Godzilla Day, a day marking the release of the original Godzilla film all the way back on November 3rd, 1954.
Godzilla Minus One got a new trailer last Friday morning and we got a good look at the titular kaiju doing what he does best: wreaking havoc and destruction in a post war Japan. Toho’s 37th instalment, to be released 69 years into Godzilla’s long career, closed the Tokyo International Film Festival and is set during a time when Japan are still recovering from the events that happened during World War 2.
Godzilla Minus One was written and directed by Takashi Yamakazi, a noted CG animator and VFX artist who worked on Lupin III: The First and The Great War of Archimedes. The films cast includes Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki.
This will be Takasi Yamakazi’s third on screen film in the Godzilla franchise, having used Godzilla with CG imagery in Always Sunset on Third Street 2, and Seibu-en’s Godzilla the Ride. The film will also be getting a UK and Ireland release in over 200 IMAX cinemas on December 15th.
Set in the immediate aftermath of World War 2, at a time when Japan had been left reeling from the use of atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Godzilla Minus One tells us the story of how the country plunged even further into despair, turmoil and chaos when the titular kaiju is awakened for the very first time. Between ongoing efforts to rebuild destroyed neighbourhoods, as well as tend to those that were injured in the bombings, resources are already stretched to their limits in the trailer as Godzilla emerges from the sea, and starts trampling on the survivors as he smashes his way through Tokyo.
The trailer does make it look like the Japanese Government are going to have to deal with the threat of Godzilla on their own and, with the countries military force depleted, it’s going to be a fight skewed in Godzilla’s favour as he unleashes all his fury. As visually stunning and terrifying as flying train coaches are, what stands out more is the design details put into Godzilla’s mutilated flesh and the emphasis on the iconography of nuclear destruction with sprawling mushroom clouds.
With recent films from Legendary Pictures painting Godzilla as a bit of a misunderstood hero figure, I am personally excited to see Godzilla go back to doing what he does best and just straight up causing terror and destruction to the residents of Japan as they find inventive ways to fight back against the atomically powered kaiju. The fact it is set right after the aftermath of World War 2 and the devastating effects that had on the Japanese economy will make the film a lot more interesting as well, as we see the country struggle to recover just before Godzilla decides they need more destruction and horror.
Godzilla Minus One will be releasing in the UK on December 15th. Will you be going to see it? Let us know in the comments below!
