A great way to end a Godzilla movie is to leave me in tears, but this one did a lot more than that.
This isn’t just the best Godzilla has ever looked on the big screen, but it’s also one of the best movies of the year. I’ve been counting down the days to this film, and I’m glad day minus zero is finally here and I can share its level of awesomeness with the world. This movie does so many things right that it’s easy to overlook some of its faults.
I was on a rollercoaster of emotions while watching this film because you care about the people, and you start caring about the kaiju, Godzilla. The film had me laughing, crying and cheering. Thankfully, the people in my theatre didn’t notice. It’s a movie that covers all emotions, and each one seamlessly flows into the next.
I watched Godzilla Minus One not too long ago, so naturally, I didn’t watch the full trailers for this film. I only saw a few clips. I genuinely had no idea this would be Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, which was the best film surprise of 2026 for me. If you didn’t know either, then sorry for the minor spoiler.
This movie is Japanese, so you should be prepared to read subtitles. I honestly didn’t even notice because the acting is so good. The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yuki Yamada, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Sakura Ando and Miou Tanaka, reprising their roles from Minus One, and they all delivered phenomenal performances. Masami Nagasawa also stars as Makoto Aoyama, and she probably delivers one of the best performances in the film.
Takashi Yamazaki took everything he did in the first film and doubled, or maybe even tripled, that. When I say that, it’s because this is a deeper, more personal story, the action is a lot bigger, and even Godzilla has grown in size. Like the first film, this movie is more story-driven, but it doesn’t hold back when it comes to the great kaiju fights.
Takashi Yamazaki is one of the best modern filmmakers, and he not only directed this movie but also wrote it and worked on the visual effects. When I say this movie has some of the best visual effects I’ve seen all year, I mean it. The monsters look and feel real, plus it feels like you’re in 1940s Japan. There are some gruelling death scenes that just look way too real.
Godzilla Minus Zero also has one of the best scores. The Ghidorah and Godzilla themes were hair-raising. I literally felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The sound design itself is flawless, and the production design is near perfect.
So, what did I not like? While there were a couple of things about the story that resulted in some plot holes, nothing distracts from the overall storytelling. There is one thing I’m struggling with: there have been so many great movies this year, and I don’t know where this one will fit in. Right now, I know it’s in my top 10.
It’s an easy four and a half out of five stars.
