While every “Godzilla” film technically focuses on its human characters rather than just spending 2 hours with a giant lizard destroying buildings, the great ones make you care about those humans even more than the lizard. “Godzilla Minus One” doesn’t just go back in time to make the monster’s nuclear allegory even clearer (the atomic breath literally takes the shape of a mushroom cloud), but to say something about the human spirit and institutions. The film is very clear in its anti-war message, and how Japan lost the war the moment the government and military decided it was worth it to send young boys to literally blow themselves up for no reason.
It’s why the heroes of “Godzilla Minus One” aren’t members of an elite military unit or even the military at large. Instead, it is individuals who lived through the horrors of war and now decide to fight not for honor, not for king and country, but for each other. Individuals who see it worth it to die helping each other rather than abandon each other to their own misfortunes. For the first time in years, humans were not just the heroes of a “Godzilla” movie, but the more interesting characters to follow.
As for where the franchise could go next, we don’t know yet. Like “Shin Godzilla,” this movie is both standalone, but also includes an ending tag that teases the return of Godzilla. Given how much director Yamazaki was inspired by “Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack,” perhaps a sequel with the titular Mothra and King Ghidorah might be possible.