Godzilla Minus Zero is less than two weeks away from IMAX screens, and director Takashi Yamazaki has opened up about the big shift in focus for his sequel to Godzilla Minus One. In a new interview with Empire published yesterday, Yamazaki explained that the story moves beyond Koichi Shikishima as an individual and puts his whole family in the King of the Monsters' path.
"The shift from Shikishima as an individual, to putting the focus on the family, was a different vector for Minus Zero," he said.
From Minus One To Minus Zero
Minus One was set in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Shikishima, a kamikaze pilot who never made his final flight, returned to a devastated Tokyo carrying enormous guilt. He took in Noriko and the orphaned baby Akiko, and over the course of the film the three became a family, even as Godzilla tore through Ginza and Shikishima prepared for one more mission.
The sequel finds things in a much better place, which is where the new title comes from. "I think there are parallels between the recovery of Japan at the time, and the building of the Shikishima family," Yamazaki said. "In Minus Zero, the state of the country as well as the state of Shikishima's family is improving. Hence, they're approaching 'zero' in a way, and a new threat appears that basically threatens to take that away."
It is a clever way to frame the numbering. Minus One was about a nation and a man starting from less than nothing. Minus Zero is about people who have finally clawed their way back to even, only to face losing everything again.
A Lesson From James Cameron
Yamazaki also credited James Cameron as his main sequel influence, pointing to Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day as the models he studied. "He looks at the original and finds another interesting hook point and digs much deeper," he said of Cameron's approach, adding that Cameron's sequels "will take a slightly different angle, but still rooted in a lot of what was built in the first film."
Both of those films kept their heroes front and center while changing the kind of story being told. Ripley went from lone survivor to reluctant protector of Newt, and Sarah Connor went from target to hardened fighter trying to save her son and the future. A Shikishima family story built on that model would keep the emotional core of Minus One intact while giving the sequel its own identity.
Why The Family Angle Matters
Part of what made Minus One connect with audiences around the world was that it treated its humans as the main event. Godzilla was terrifying, but the film lived or died on Shikishima's guilt and his relationship with Noriko and Akiko. That human focus helped the film earn around $113 million worldwide and win the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Putting the entire family at risk raises the stakes in a very personal way. It also ties the monster's return to the broader idea of Japan's recovery, which has always been part of Godzilla's DNA going back to the 1954 original.
Yamazaki returns as writer, director and visual effects supervisor, so the same creative voice is guiding the sequel from top to bottom.
Godzilla Minus Zero Release Date
Godzilla Minus Zero opens in IMAX starting November 3, and arrives in UK cinemas on November 6. More from Yamazaki will appear in Empire's Dune: Part Three issue, which should shed more light on what the Shikishima family is up against this time.
After the way Minus One ended, with Shikishima finally choosing to live and Noriko's mysterious fate leaving fans with questions, there is plenty of story left to tell. Hearing that Yamazaki wants to dig deeper into those characters rather than simply go bigger is a good sign for anyone who fell in love with the first film.
Are you looking forward to seeing the Shikishima family return in Godzilla Minus Zero?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.