The holiday season isn’t well-known for monster movies, but the return of a classic monster is making its mark lately.

Toho honored the 70th anniversary of Godzilla with a remake of sorts called Godzilla Minus One. It has a connection with the past but tells its origin story in a new way.

Instead of a big lizard wrecking Japan while people wonder how to stop it, a man has to stop the monster because he missed a chance to slow it down years before.

It opens just before the end of World War II. Kamakazi pilot Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) lands at Odo Island to get his plane fixed. Then the movie surprises us by introducing Godzilla so quickly, and that the islanders already know about him. He’s urged to kill it with a 20 MM gun, but fails. Godzilla kills everyone but Shikishima. This hangs over his head for quite a while. It’s also revealed why he really came to the island.

When he gets home, he meets Noriko who has an orphan baby. They rely on each other to survive the post-war era, and he gets a job picking up mines. If not for the monster, it makes a good drama about the Japanese picking up the pieces after the war.
But Godzilla shows up again, and this upsets Shikishima. Seeing him releasing a primal scream after thousands die (and maybe Noriko), just like Godzilla, is a classic moment. Somehow, he thinks the destruction is his fault because he didn’t shoot Godzilla the first time. This makes the movie different than the usual Godzilla movie, and Kamiki is the best part of it.

Shikishima soon agrees to be involved in one last plan to kill Godzilla, but it involves giving up his own life to do it. It leads to an incredible ending that will make fans cry.
Not bad for a blockbuster that cost 15 million to make, and will likely make three times that worldwide and maybe more just before Christmas.