Godzilla Minus One
Toho Company | Release Date: December 1, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
CineVueAlex AdamsDec 19, 2023
Godzilla Minus One is a monster movie of singular power, using horror-infused kaiju spectacle to deliver an emotionally compelling story of grief, wartime trauma, and hope. Most importantly, its genre-leading visual effects scenes are complemented by richly soulful performances and humane themes of reconciliation and redemption. Read full review
90
SlateDana StevensJan 9, 2024
Come for the skyline-destroying radioactive dino, stay for the delicately etched portrait of recovery and self-forgiveness. Or vice versa. Just don’t miss the chance to remind yourself why the world fell for Godzilla in the first place. Read full review
90
The Irish TimesTara BradyDec 15, 2023
The enduring quality of the 1953 original is rooted in its engagement with the twin atomic disasters of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This prequel, similarly, yokes American imperialism, postwar malaise, survivor guilt and weaponised atomic power to produce the best action film of the year. Read full review
90
Film ThreatAlan NgNov 30, 2023
If you’re a fan of Godzilla, prepare to have your mind blown with Godzilla Minus One. Set your expectations high, and enjoy the ride. Read full review
90
VarietyRichard KuipersNov 22, 2023
Despite a few lapses into lumpy melodrama, Yamazki’s thoughtful script holds firm and is dotted with delightful humor at just the right moments. Read full review
90
PolygonChris PlanteNov 1, 2023
Godzilla Minus One is the throwback movie that longtime Godzilla fans have been waiting for. Read full review
88
ABC NewsPeter TraversJan 16, 2024
The Japanese reboot of the kaju king snagged a surprise Oscar nomination for visual effects. It deserves the win, whether you see it in color or glorious black-and-white. For once, the 70-year-old series finds a human depth to match its dazzle. A star is reborn. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenDec 22, 2023
Writer-director Takashi Yamazaki and his team of effects artists bring a thrilling immediacy and tactility to the monster sequences, but what I loved most about Godzilla Minus One is the way it evokes the sense of loss and mourning of the granddaddy of these pictures, 1954’s Gojira (Godzilla in the U.S.). Read full review
88
ObserverOliver JonesDec 4, 2023
This time, Godzilla is a powerful symbol of the addictive pull of destruction, and how once unleashed, weapons of mass destruction can never again be contained. Read full review
88
Washington PostLucas TrevorNov 30, 2023
Top Gun: Maverick showed us there’s still an audience for movies that combine concise and creative action with emotionally resonant characters. Godzilla Minus One is another reminder — and quite possibly the better movie of the two. Read full review
85
The AtlanticDavid SimsFeb 9, 2024
It’s scary. I’ve seen plenty of Godzilla movies and enjoyed most of them, but the title character has rarely been so frightening to behold. Read full review
85
The Daily BeastNick SchagerNov 30, 2023
As Toho Studios’ new Godzilla Minus One proves, the Japanese know how to get the iconic radioactive behemoth right. Read full review
85
Paste MagazineElijah GonzalezNov 29, 2023
Much like the movie that started it all, Godzilla Minus One cements itself among the best entries in the series by successfully operating as both an evocative disaster flick and a more human-oriented drama, using each half to bolster the other. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMatt SchimkowitzDec 1, 2023
When Godzilla tears through Tokyo in the film’s most relentlessly terrifying, most showstopping sequence, the two plots fuse into a unified whole, grafting Shikishima’s political woes to Yamazaki’s feelings of government abandonment during the pandemic. Read full review
83
The Film StageRyan SwenNov 30, 2023
It is unabashedly sentimental, even risking a certain ideological simplicity in its groundswell of former troops fighting a new, potentially more worthy conflict on their own terms. But its journey towards this destination is hard-fought, willing to stay in the quiet anguish for uncomfortable lengths of time so that the ultimate release is all the sweeter. Read full review
83
ColliderChase HutchinsonNov 28, 2023
Godzilla Minus One more than carves out its place among the best entries of this long-running series. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeDec 17, 2023
It’s a testament to the quality of writing, and to the action direction, that this never feels as corny or as crass as you might expect. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinDec 15, 2023
The monster mayhem scenes are obviously the main draw, and they’re terrifically staged, with clean visual effects that look anchored to the real world. And a careful balance is struck between spectacle and horror. Read full review
80
The GuardianLeslie FelperinDec 13, 2023
This is not a cuddly version of Godzilla. He is rageful and entirely incomprehensible, seemingly not even motivated by hunger, desire or revenge. Like a god, he just is, an entity that has become death, the destroyer of worlds, as ineluctable as history itself. Read full review
80
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonDec 1, 2023
The film's final 30 minutes is simply phenomenal filmmaking, emphasizing Yamazaki’s ability to bring quality back to the franchise and showcase a stunning achievement of human storytelling. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenDec 1, 2023
With a Bully XL jawline, the scale and intricate design of a Gaudi cathedral and the rage of a grumpy old codger, the subsea icon emerges from the cracks of modern blockbuster-making to remind the world that there is a much better way to make a monster flick. Read full review
80
EmpireKambole CampbellDec 1, 2023
A refreshingly humanist and nostalgic reboot of the iconic monster franchise, Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One takes the atomic lizard back to his post-war roots, while making the most of the director’s background in animation and VFX direction through convincing, tactile and classic design work. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneChristopher CruzNov 30, 2023
It’s a testament to Yamazaki’s work as both director and screenwriter that Minus One feels like a wartime character drama first, kaiju film second. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonNov 29, 2023
Nearly 70 years after the release of the original film, Godzilla Minus One returns the titular beast to its roots as a metaphor for Japan’s postwar anxiety and grief, in the process delivering a stirring spectacle that also contains a palpable emotional undercurrent. Read full review
80
IGNKatie RifeNov 16, 2023
A rousing, spectacle-filled blockbuster, Godzilla: Minus One takes the king of the monsters back to his roots in post-WWII Japan. The story is character-driven, but the monster scenes are exciting and effective. Read full review
80
SlashfilmWitney SeiboldNov 13, 2023
Godzilla Minus One is one of the rare Godzilla pictures about the indomitability of the human spirit. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerNov 30, 2023
There's as much of Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru here as there is the rubber-suit genius of Godzilla creator Ishirō Honda (himself never shy of political subtext), and that's a pairing as powerful as any monster mash-up. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsDec 1, 2023
Yamazaki’s style, like his movie’s politics, only looks conservative when compared to his predecessors. He made a good Godzilla movie, if not a great one. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussNov 30, 2023
The main effect this film’s commitment to emotional intelligence has is to show us what has been missing from the franchise all along. That, and to deliver a climax that will bring tears to your eyes — unless you’re some sort of beast. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 30, 2023
Godzilla Minus One isn’t just a good Godzilla movie. It’s an excellent Godzilla movie – arguably among the best ever to grace the screen. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineKeith UhlichNov 28, 2023
For all the unbridled destruction, Godzilla Minus One remains perversely light and fun, a Roland Emmerich-like disaster flick helmed by an actual talent. Read full review
70
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsDec 13, 2023
It’s precision-tooled in terms of structure, almost to the point of airlessness, but you’d be hard-pressed to knock back the final 45-minute showdown as anything less than an impressive feat by a filmmaker orchestrating and charting the fine processes of an epic battle. Read full review
70
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldNov 30, 2023
The heroic arc is creaky, but despite the chintzy clichés about Godzilla movies, this one keeps bringing blockbuster brio to heel with a sometimes heavy heart. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 1, 2023
For long stretches, Godzilla Minus One concentrates on relationships and conversations, which despite their intent, do little to advance the plot or illuminate simply-drawn characters. Read full review
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