The King of Monsters finally stomped his way into Japan’s largest celebration of cinema on Sunday as Takashi Yamazaki’s wildly anticipated Godzilla Minus Zero played to a packed pair of screenings at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
The sold-out shows easily drew the liveliest crowds of this year’s Tokyo festival — the latest Toho-backed monster epic doesn’t open commercially in Japan until Nov. 3 — with numerous die-hard kaiju fans attending in costume or carrying their own Gojira figurines into the theater.
Godzilla Minus Zero is playing as the “centerpiece film” of the Tokyo festival’s programming this year, and it undoubtedly brought a welcome jolt of energy to the event as it moves through its second half. When the credits rolled on the second screening inside Hulic Hall Tokyo, the crowd erupted into uncharacteristically rapturous applause, with the always respectful but typically subdued Japanese festivalgoers all smiles and excited chatter over favorite monster moments as they poured into the autumn evening in Tokyo’s Ginza district — where much of the carnage on screen takes place.
Godzilla Minus Zero is a direct follow-up to Godzilla Minus One (2023), which Yamazaki famously wrote, directed and VFX-supervised. The film was a smash with both critics and mainstream moviegoers, making history as the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film ever in North America ($57.1 million) and later becoming the first film in the multi-decade Godzilla franchise to take home an Oscar, winning the best visual effects award despite competing in the category against Hollywood tentpoles with vastly bigger budgets.
The sequel picks up in 1949, two years after the events of Minus One, as Japan struggles to rebuild from the devastation of war and Godzilla’s attack. The Shikishima family’s hard-won peace is threatened by a new calamity, with the film also bringing iconic franchise rival King Ghidorah, the three-headed kaiju, into Yamazaki’s postwar world.
Yamazaki’s return to the helm for the follow-up has lifted expectations across the globe — and the critical response so far, along with the enthusiastic reception at home in Tokyo on Sunday, suggests he delivered. Godzilla Minus Zero premiered in September at the New York Film Festival, where The Hollywood Reporter’s chief critic David Rooney gave it a rave, calling the film a “radioactive blast” and “a crackling kaiju epic every bit as exciting as its predecessor.” The movie currently holds a score of 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from 52 reviews.
Godzilla Minus Zero’s two leads, Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe, took the stage to introduce the Tokyo festival screenings and share a few words with fans.
Kamiki told the audience he was both “excited” and “a little bit scared” because he could “feel people’s anticipation building as the film’s opening is now very close.”
Hamabe added that the first film was so “beloved by fans all over the world, that now for the sequel, well, we need it to be even bigger and better.”
“I’m just curious to see how people will receive it,” she added.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Sae Nagatani and Minami Hamabe.
The duo then welcomed to the stage child actress Sae Nagatani, who plays their characters’ adopted daughter, Akiko.
“Together, we play the Shikishima family, and that wouldn’t be complete without our Akiko,” Kamiki said as the little girl joined them and said hello to the audience.
“Having a family usually makes us stronger, but it can also make us vulnerable,” Kamiki then said, launching into a bit of plot preview. “[Our family] is trying to always think of family first. But when Godzilla appears, we have to try to protect the family and that leads to some very hard decisions.”
Added Hamabe: “I’m very happy to to have met you all here today, and I hope you will enjoy the story of what happens to the Shikishima family — and also, the Godzilla experience, of course!”
GKIDS opens Godzilla Minus Zero in cinemas across North America on Nov. 6, following Imax early-access screenings on Nov. 3.