Does Godzilla Minus One Break Canon?

One of the most immersive and emotionally charged movies of 2023, Godzilla Minus One honors and advances the titular terror’s historical canon. While the film does not belong to one cinematic universe or have ties to Godzilla’s MonsterVerse, the standalone effort pays homage to Ishiro Honda’s 1954 original and the historical context regarding atomic energy and nuclear war. Moreover, thanks to great technological advances in the VFX, Godzilla’s incendiary atomic breath has been drastically upgraded in the throwback event film.

Godzilla Minus One

4/5

Release Date

December 1, 2023

Director

Takashi Yamazaki

Cast

Ryûnosuke Kamiki , Takayuki Yamada , Sakura Andou

With Godzilla Minus One available on Netflix, a closer look at the monstrous mutation and its deadly atomic breath is necessary to determine whether Godzilla’s trademark attack aligns with or departs from canon. While more complicated than it appears, the film itself may not be considered canon, but Godzilla’s supercharged powers remain consistent with the MonsterVerse iteration of the infamous character.

Godzilla Minus One Honors What Came Before It

Godzilla Minus One is a standalone Japanese Godzilla movie directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Although Yamazaki stated the film honors the spirit of Ishiro Honda’s original 1954 classic, the story has no connection with the overarching Godzilla MonsterVerse. Toho, the production company that famously made the original, also produced Godzilla Minus One, yet each plot is independent.

According to Yamazaki, the 1954 original and the 2001 movie Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidora – Giant Monsters All-Out-Attack (GMK), were the two most important influences, telling Movie Walker Press:

“I had forgotten the contents of
GMK
for a while, but it seems like I self-consciously thought about it when writing the scenario for
-1.0
. Without realizing it, I was under considerable influence.”

Beginning in 1945 as WWII nears an end, the story follows disgraced ex-Kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), who fails to shoot Godzilla during an abrupt attack, leaving several soldiers dead. Feeling immense guilt and remorse, Shikishima returns home and discovers his parents were killed in an air attack. He meets a young woman named Noriko (Minami Hamabe), who looks after an orphaned baby named Akiko (Sae Nagatani) after losing her parents in the bombing.

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With few options, Shikishima takes a job aboard an old wooden boat to defuse naval water mines from WWII. At sea, Godzilla powers up due to nuclear radiation sustained during U.S. atomic bomb testing at Bikini Atoll and obliterates several warships.

As Noriko and Shikishima vow to protect Akiko and raise her as their own, Godzilla escalates his attacks on Japan and advances toward Tokyo in 1947. Eventually, Shikishima gets a heroic chance to redeem himself with a daring aerial acrobatic attack that saves Japan from the menacing monster and atones for his failure to act during Godzilla’s initial onslaught.

Godzilla’s Atomic Breath in Godzilla Minus One Breaks Canon in the Best Way

Although Godzilla Minus One breaks canon on a narrative level, Godzilla’s trademark atomic breath advances and upgrades the creature’s iconic cinematic strength. Due to the nuclear radiation that the creature is exposed to, Godzilla mutates and becomes powerful enough to sink the USS Redfish along with several other warships. The deadly assault prompts a response from the Japanese government as Godzilla advances toward Ginza, where Noriko works.

Aligning with Godzilla’s MonsterVerse attacks, its deadly atomic breath in Minus One includes all the visual markers fans have come to know, love, and fear. Before breathing atomic radiation from its mouth in the form of a highly-concentrated neon blue laser beam, Godzilla’s spine and dorsal fins glow as the creature powers up with electromagnetic force.

The energetic transformation calls to mind Godzilla’s power-up in GMK, including dorsal plates that jut outward as it charges. Similarly, Godzilla’s atomic breath charging from its tail to its mouth is on par with the recent American Godzilla movies. Therefore, Godzilla’s atomic breath in Minus One remains consistent with the creature’s signature strength in the MonsterVerse canon, yet upgrades the attack with a destructive Heat Ray.

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Before reaching Ginza, the government tries to prevent Godzilla with a massive cruiser ship. A mine is launched into Godzilla’s mouth, which causes severe damage inside the beast’s body. As usual, Godzilla’s rapid regeneration properties allow it to heal instantly. Afterward, Godzilla annihilates the cruiser with a powerful Heat Ray attack. The weapon refers to the Godzilla Heisei Series, which introduced the monster’s ultra-deadly Spiral Heat Ray.

Also marked by blue and red energy beams, the Spiral Heat Ray emits an extremely hot spiral lightning bolt that causes incredible damage on contact. In past Godzilla films, Godzilla used the Spiral Heat Ray to harm individual targets, including Ghidorah, Destroyah, and SpaceGodzilla. In Godzilla Minus One, the Heat Ray is powerful enough to wipe out thousands of people on land in a single attack.

In short, just as Godzilla’s Atomic Breath has been upgraded, the monster’s Heat Ray has evolved into a stronger and more deadly attack on par with a nuclear blast. While the story veers, Godzilla’s atomic breath in Minus One doesn’t break canon as much as it advances the attack through nuclear radiation, honoring the spirit of the 1954 original, GMK, and other Godzilla movies Yamazaki was inspired by.

Godzilla Minus One is available to stream on Netflix