For the longest time, Godzilla has been treated as kind of a joke in Western areas. While I can’t really blame them as the King of Monsters has been known for a lot of campy sci-fi films during the ’60s and ’70s. But it does seem like there has been a concerted effort to return Godzilla to his more serious roots like when he was a destructive allegory of humans messing with nature in his first ever appearance.
This seems to have worked as Toho‘s Godzilla Minus Zero, has become one of the most anticipated sequels of the year. And, as a Godzilla fan, I am so happy he’s getting the respect that he deserves. While I did really enjoy the movie, I can’t really say it’s as good as Godzilla Minus One, its predecessor. A big reason for why I say that is because Godzilla Minus Zero is not as tightly written. It’s not bad but, unlike Godzilla Minus One, I have a bunch of questions about the movie’s story. Oh, they aren’t really major questions. In the grand scheme of things, they’re rather inconsequential… but they are questions nonetheless.
So, here are just five inconsequential questions I have about Godzilla Minus Zero!
Of course, since I will be talking about specific things that happened in Godzilla Minus Zero, I have to put out the obligatory SPOILER WARNING now. The movie was just released in some areas so some of you might have not seen it yet. So, yeah. As I will be talking about plot points and what not, there will be SPOILERS! You have been warned!
#1 Is the weather girl psychic?
Godzilla Minus Zero eschews some of the established characters from Godzilla Minus One to introduce new characters the world. Notably, we have Dr. Kanji Murakami, a scientist who survived the United States bombing of Hiroshima, as well as Makoto Aoyama, a girl with the uncanny ability to predict the weather.
Now, the film does go out of its way to show that Aoyama, the weather girl, is very diligent when in comes to studying weather patterns. But I do have to ask if she’s psychic? I mean, there was even a scene when they were tracking King Ghidora where, even after looking through all the data, she does some fancy hand waving over a map to get the exact area where the monster will land next.
This wouldn’t be the first time there would be a psychic character in a Godzilla continuity. Toho seems to love adding these characters as there have been several psychics in earlier Godzilla films, such as the Shobijin in the Showa Era and Miki Saegusa for the majority of the Heisei Era of films. So, it wouldn’t be outlandish if this new series of Godzilla movies would have their very own psychic character, would it? While it’s kind of hinted at, it’s never really confirmed, which is why I’m asking.
Speaking of storms…
#2 Does King Ghidorah follow storms or does he create them?
During the film, the humans try to stop Ghidorah by both bombing him with a fuel bomb and zapping him with lightning. It turns out executing the second plan was a mistake as, after Ghidorah is fried by the lighting bolts, the creature starts to mutate and adapt, growing larger and sprouting two more heads. The lighting also gives the creature the ability to shoot gravity beams. The humans then develop a new plan when Godzilla returns to have both monsters fight each other.
But before they can even do that, they have to find a way to control Godzilla as well as track where the newly christened King Ghidorah will appear. Dr. Murakami handles the former while Aoyama focuses on the latter by following sightings as well as storm patterns, which King Ghidorah seems to be following.
Or is it the other way around and it’s actually King Ghidorah causing the storms and the storms are following the monster? I’m asking this because I can see this both ways. In a lot of depictions, Godzilla himself is attracted to areas with high concentration of radiation as that’s essentially his sustenance. As King Ghidorah gained his new form after getting a direct hit of lightning, it’s entirely possible that lightning or high voltage electricity helps sustain him as well. On the other hand, as King Ghidorah’s wings can generate hurricane levels of force, him simply flying around might be causing a strong enough low pressure area to create storm clouds around him as he gets higher up in the atmosphere. So, which is it?
Speaking of Dr. Murakami…
#3 How was Dr. Murakami planning to fly all the way to the United States with Godzilla in tow?
As mentioned, while Aoyama is tracking King Ghidorah’s movements, Dr. Murakami is tasked with controlling Godzilla. This is something he’s already done as he developed a resonance wave machine which will “call out” to similar creatures. But in order for the machine to work, he needs a living being infused with Godzilla’s cells. And it turns out Noriko, who only survived the events of the first film because she has Godzilla cells in her body.
However, Dr. Murakami has a more diabolical reason for wanting to control Godzilla. He wants revenge on America for dropping the bombs on Japan, which led to the deaths of his entire family. He wants to use the resonance wave machine to draw Godzilla to the United States and let the creature loose.
But how does he intend to do that exactly? Godzilla Minus Zero takes place in 1949 and, during that time period, international non-stop flights weren’t exactly a thing. While I’m not saying there weren’t any (as I’m not a history buff so I can’t confirm that), I’m saying it would be highly unlikely that Dr. Murakami could actually fly a plane with Godzilla in tow without the United States seeing there’s a plane that has a giant nuclear powered lizard coming to its shores.
Also, there’s the issue of refueling. During this same time period, planes used propeller engines and not the jet engines we use today. These propeller planes weren’t as efficient when it comes to fuel consumption as today’s jet engines. So, in order for Dr. Murakami’s plan to work, he would have to make several stopovers to get from Japan to the United States with Godzilla following them. I don’t think anyone would want to refuel a plane next to Godzilla!
Speaking of Noriko…
#4 How long does Noriko have to live?
So, at the end of Godzilla Minus One, it’s revealed that Noriko miraculously survived after being blown away from Godzilla’s atomic breath explosion when the creature attacked Ginza. The only reason why she did is because, as hinted at the ending of that film, some of Godzilla’s cells got into her body. The aftermath of this is shown in Godzilla Minus Zero as Noriko wasn’t the only one who got infected with Godzilla cells. Other people also did but, because the Godzilla cells were mutating their bodies, they soon all died. Noriko herself suspects she doesn’t have much time herself.
But how long exactly? I mean, she seems to be the outlier as, like I said, she’s still alive when the others have already perished. Also, her Godzilla mutations seem to be pretty low key as, from what I’ve seen in the film, all Noriko has are that one yellow eye and some scales along her shoulder. That’s it. Now, if they do make a sequel, it could be that Noriko dies off-screen (I doubt it) or her Godzilla mutation becomes a plot point again. Or it could be, when the Godzilla Plus Zero or whatever they call it, Noriko has totally changed her personality because of the mutations. I can’t really say. That’s why I’m asking these questions!
Speaking of Ginza…
#5 Japan didn’t bother to repair Ginza?
As kind of a happy coincidence, Aoyama predicts King Ghidorah will appear in Ginza shortly. This works out in the human’s favor as the city is still in severe disrepair after Godzilla wrecked in during the first film. Because of this, this would be the best staging ground for a final battle between Godzilla and King Ghidorah as, since no one has returned there yet, they would be able to minimize casualties.
But why is Ginza still a pile of rubble? From what I’ve researched, after the bombings, Japan almost immediately started to clean up both Hiroshima and Nagasaki afterwards. Granted, it did take time for both cities to get back to any form of stability. But, as Godzilla Minus Zero takes place around two years after the events of the first film, it doesn’t seem like the Japan government didn’t really do anything to rehabilitate Ginza in any way. I guess it could be because they were allocating funds to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the time. Or they just didn’t think Ginza was a priority. Whatever the reason, I would think the Japanese government would have, at the very least, cleaned up the rubble after two years, right?
What other inconsequential questions did you come up with after watching Godzilla Minus Zero? Let me know in the comments section below!
