Godzilla Minus Zero Ending Explained: Where The Franchise Goes From Here
by Bill Bria · /FilmAdd SlashFilm on Google:
Google Discover
Full spoilers for "Godzilla Minus Zero" follow.
For the longest time in the character's 72-year history, the "Godzilla" films were surprisingly light on continuity. During the Showa era films produced by Toho Studios during the 1950s through the 1970s, the most common recurring characters in the movies were the kaiju themselves. When the Heisei era occurred between 1984 and 1996, they established a continuity that was a bit more contiguous, but not much. The Millennium era became even more piecemeal continuity-wise, with most entries using the original 1954 "Godzilla" as a starting point but erasing everything else until the latest film (similar to how the "Halloween" franchise continuity has operated before). Even the MonsterVerse films produced by Legendary Pictures function most similarly to the Heisei era in terms of continuity, while Toho's 2016 "Shin Godzilla" is basically a one-shot.
All of this is to say that the "Godzilla" franchise is wildly unpredictable where canon is concerned, with each film or groups of films essentially treating it piecemeal. It's exceedingly rare that a true sequel has been made to a "Godzilla" film in the past, where a prior movie's cast and filmmakers have returned for a second round. That milestone has finally been achieved with "Godzilla Minus Zero."
The movie is an unabashed sequel to 2023's "Godzilla Minus One," as it's once again written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. As such, it's a beautifully rich experience previously unseen in most "Godzilla" movies, one which builds from its predecessor in a big way. "Minus Zero" isn't just another "Godzilla" adventure, but a movie which continues the "Minus" series' character arcs and themes, and its emotional, somewhat cliffhanger-style conclusion indicates that the story may not be over yet.
What you need to remember from Godzilla Minus One
"Godzilla Minus One" takes place between 1945 and 1947, during the immediate aftermath of World War II. Japan's loss of the war has left it hurting in more ways than one, with the country having to muddle through dire straits both physical and emotional. This is represented by the ensemble of characters we meet, chief among them Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a kamikaze pilot who deserts his suicidal duty, Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe), a woman who takes it upon herself to rescue and raise an orphan girl, Akiko (Sae Nagatani), and Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), a Naval weapons engineer.
All three adults come to view the superpowered creature Godzilla as emblematic of their personal struggles. For Noda, Godzilla must be stopped for Japan to have a future. For Noriko, Godzilla is something to be survived. For Shikishima, Godzilla is the personification of his guilt, as well as a force of death and destruction who must be vanquished.
After Noriko's apparent demise during a Godzilla attack on Ginza, Noda spearheads a civilian-run mission in which a couple of Navy destroyers will alternately sink and raise Godzilla at dangerous speeds. As a failsafe, Shikishima has volunteered to fly one of the last available Shinden fighters to lure Godzilla out to sea. However, his real plan is to fly the plane, loaded with explosives, directly into Godzilla's mouth. He does so, but uses an ejection seat to escape at the last minute, proving he's overcome his guilt and has decided to live. Following the Godzilla victory, Shikishima learns that Noriko has in fact survived, and he and Akiko go to visit her in the hospital. As Noriko tearfully reunites with her new family, a mysterious black mark on her neck shimmers.
What happens at the end of Godzilla Minus Zero?
"Godzilla Minus Zero" picks up in 1949, when Noda is informed of another giant monster attacking Japan: Ghidorah. As Noda and his new advisor, meterologist Makoto Aoyama (Masami Nagasawa), plan to kill Ghidorah with lightning, Noda asks Shikishima for help. Shikishima tries to stay out of the battle for the sake of his now-wife Noriko and adopted daughter Akiko, especially as he and Noriko are the only ones who know that she survived Ginza due to being infected with Godzilla's cells, which might lead to her death soon.
Yet when Ghidorah survives the initial attack and a now-regenerated Godzilla reappears, Noda and biologist Kanji Murakami (Min Tanaka), a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, decide the best plan is to lure Godzilla and Ghidorah into a deathmatch fight, with the humans killing the victor. To do this, Murakami has a device which means only Noriko and her G cells can "call" Godzilla.
Shikishima and Noriko agree to the plan, unaware that Murakami intends to later use Noriko as a way to get revenge on the USA. Godzilla and Ghidorah fight in Ginza, and the former eventually triumphs, though at the expense of Noda's life. When the Japanese army gives orders that Godzilla is not to be killed, Shikishima and Noriko mutiny against Murakami. However, Murakami reveals that Noda recently convinced him of the error of his ways, and the couple are allowed to escape while the scientist destroys his machine and his work.
Unfortunately, Murakami's good deed is punished when the US army arrests him. Meanwhile, Shikishima and Noriko try to abandon Akiko, knowing they're doomed to a life on the run from the authorities. Yet they ultimately can't leave her behind, and ride off as a family to an uncertain future.
Takashi Yamazaki broadens and deepens the themes of Minus One with Godzilla Minus Zero
"Godzilla Minus Zero" is a true second chapter in a continuing story. This is a fairly unprecedented occurrence in the Godzilla franchise, not just in the way the returning characters are built upon and expanded, but also in the way Takashi Yamazaki continues the themes from "Minus One." Rather than jumping ahead in time too far, "Minus Zero" is still a story of post-war Japan, and nowhere is this more evident than in Kanji Murakami's character.
Although Godzilla is shifted toward a more heroic light, as has happened many times over the franchise, he's still presented as morally dubious. If, in "Minus One," Godzilla stood for the sins of the Japanese (if not all humanity) come to punish them, "Minus Zero" looks at Godzilla as the country's answer to the atomic bomb: a destructive and ultimately uncontrollable weapon which should only be used as a last resort, if ever.
In addition to the war allegory, "Godzilla Minus Zero" takes the characters of "Minus One" beyond their absolution in that film. Much of "Minus Zero" concerns whether the happy (or relatively happy) future the survivors of that movie fought so hard for can even happen, as everything from the Ghidorah attacks to the potentially deadly G Cells in Noriko's body appears like an insurmountable threat. Yet while unfortunate consequences are unavoidable, Yamazaki's optimism ultimately shines through, especially in the way the bonds between the characters mean that all hope is never lost. Even the supporting cast from "Minus One," though given smaller roles here, contribute to this theme. The implication is that Japan, if not humanity, can have a bright future if everyone supports each other and serves their better natures rather than being selfish or hateful.
Will there be another Minus movie, and where will it go from here?
If "Godzilla Minus Zero" were to conclude the "Minus" continuity, then both "Godzilla Minus One" and "Minus Zero" would serve as a fully satisfying tale. Still, Takashi Yamazaki does leave "Minus Zero" on several cliffhangers, or at least unresolved questions. The ending leaves the ultimate fate of many characters uncertain, chief among them Murakami and the Shikishima family. In the case of the former, it seems likely that the US army intend to make Murakami work for them to get Godzilla under American control.
In the case of the latter, the Shikishimas are now going to be on the run, and it's unclear what their plan is to evade the government(s). It's neat how these films have set up so much good material with the human characters that there's enough interest in what happens to them before one even considers the kaiju.
But oh, the giant monsters! We cannot forget about them. Now that Yamazaki has introduced Ghidorah, the door is open for any other Toho-verse kaiju to turn up. In terms of the themes that the "Minus" films are dealing with, it would feel appropriate for other heavily allegorical beasts like Rodan or Hedorah to make their appearance. Although the MonsterVerse's "Godzilla vs. Kong" recently used Mechagodzilla as humanity's warmongering response to Godzilla, such a characterization would fit snugly into the "Minus" films, too. And, while "Minus Zero" only contains a fantasy sequence of Godzilla attacking NYC, there's the chance that the action could expand beyond Japan for real. While it's not clear whether there will be another "Minus" film at all yet, there's certainly no dearth of possibilities for one to explore.
"Godzilla Minus Zero" is in theaters now.