Godzilla Minus One Gives A Terrifying Upgrade To The Atomic Breath

In an interview with /Film, “Godzilla Minus One” director Takashi Yamazaki confirmed he wanted Godzilla’s new atomic breath to be “the most powerful of all Godzillas.” What’s more, he talked about bringing the giant monster back to his atomic roots.

“We see that Godzilla represented war and the effects of atomic weapons and things like that, and I also felt that I think it might be around time that the world needs to be reminded that Godzilla did represent those things at one point and, perhaps, we should remember that now in 2023.”

That “Godzilla Minus One” is taking such a direct approach to its atomic era allegory — and getting released — right on the heels of “Oppenheimer” is a nice little bonus connection. Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece is all about the incredible, awe-inspiring, absolutely terrifying power of nuclear explosions. Still, that film was criticized by some for not showing the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. “Godzilla Minus One” doesn’t just make the monster’s WWII allegory textual by setting the story immediately after WWII. It also makes the monster’s most iconic weapon a reminder of the devastating power that obliterated two of Japan’s cities just a few years prior. This makes Godzilla not just a force of nature, but divine punishment.