Set against the backdrop of Japan just about finding its feet post the second world war, Godzilla Minus One follows the story of another devastating attack that the people of the country must brace for, when an unknown sea-beast emerges on its shores. Will humanity survive to fight another day? The story here is refreshing given its setting that seamlessly combined a postwar era of Japan and placed it in a sort of a Monster Universe. As a result, the complaint that I otherwise had about the representation of humans in such films, added so much more depth and complications with its dynamics that instantly had me floored with its freshness. If I were to dig in closer, the screenplay standing at just above 2 hours was quite formulaic and did follow the usual beats of a monsterverse film. But a few tweaks with the emotional depth of characters, which by all means would and should drive the narrative forward, elevated the drama to a different wavelength, something that further aided the special effects that were the strongest feature of the drama. 

The drama opens in the year 1945, an era which was on the cusp of the culmination of the second world war. There a seemingly deceptive character in the form of the protagonist is introduced, wherein he is accused of bailing out on his group of pilots citing ‘technical glitches’ in his plane. The island where the protagonist finds himself in, is home to a few engineers who are soon attacked by an unknown beast that suddenly emerges from the sea. And even as the protagonist cannot bring himself to shoot the beast(even with a clout of doubt created around the minds of the viewers on whether the beast deserved to be shot without a real counter to begin with), a little skirmish results in the death of all but two men including the protagonist at the hands of the beast, ‘Godzilla’. This opening sequence was well constructed in setting the ball rolling for the rest of the drama to follow. 

The usual mistake in all films of the monsterverse has been the lack of world building and characterization, often relying on the twin beasts to do a lot of the heavy lifting along the way. And this is where the screenplay of Godzilla Minus One scores wherein the writers do not wish to introduce another high octane sequence following the opening scebe, instead focusing on building the world and the characters around the protagonist through the postwar era of Japan. The idea here is to delay the inevitable, something that in turn adds depth to the drama. Along the way, the ever shifting geo-political dynamics of Japan with the US and then USSR along with its own set of internal politics of leaving their own people to fend for themselves, forms a vital plot point that unfolds as an undercurrent. This results in a stirling action sequence at the halfway mark that scores not only visually but emotionally as well, even as I found myself uncannily caring for its characters. 

The second hour and the events of the second and third acts are more about regrouping, planning and plotting the downfall of Godzilla. This was essentially the limitation of the genre too wherein you could only go so far without getting too conventional with the proceedings. As a result, the events are slightly more cliched and routine although they still manage to hold your attention. The standard twists and turns in the third act featuring a final face-off between the creature and the humans was predictable but also quite gripping, and this is where the visual effects take over the shortcomings of the storyline, leading to a elating finale. The little twist at the end was an interesting one with one of the characters long presumed dead, finds herself on a hospital bed with black marks on her neck(a reference to the G-cells which means this could be a franchise of its own). Overall, the screenplay is really well written and makes for a rather enjoyable and emotional watch.