When Godzilla Minus One<\/em> stomped into cinemas in 2023, it was instantly hailed as one of the greatest Godzilla films ever made \u2013 and rightly so. Director (and writer, and VFX supervisor) Takashi Yamazaki not only made the nuclear lizard scary again, but paired his arrival in post-World War II Japan with a touching human story. As well as critical acclaim and $113 million box office haul, the film even won an Oscar for its visual effects. So, how do you possibly hope to live up to it in a sequel?<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s the question Yamazaki was faced with for Godzilla Minus Zero<\/em> \u2013 and he looked to one of Hollywood\u2019s finest for the answer. \u201cI\u2019m going to have to give credit to James Cameron,\u201d he tells Empire<\/em>, citing Aliens<\/em> and Terminator 2<\/em> as some of his favourite sequels. \u201cHe looks at the original and finds another interesting hook point and digs much deeper. Oftentimes his sequels will take a slightly different angle, but still rooted in a lot of what was built in the first film. I was curious how his second films are outperforming the originals in a lot of ways.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n For Yamazaki, that additional hook this time is not just a greater scale to the kaiju<\/em> action, but expanding the emotional focus too. In Minus One<\/em>, kamikaze pilot K\u014dichi Shikishima wrestled with his wartime guilt as he battled Godzilla, all while forming a bond with fellow survivor Noriko and kid Akiko. In Minus Zero<\/em>, it\u2019s all about the trio as a family unit. \u201cThe shift from Shikishima as an individual, to putting the focus on the family, was a different vector for Minus Zero<\/em>,\u201d says the director. It also continues an allegorical story of Japan\u2019s post-war state of mind. \u201cI think there are parallels between the recovery of Japan at the time, and the building of the Shikishima family,\u201d he explains. \u201cIn Minus Zero<\/em>, the state of the country as well as the state of Shikishima\u2019s family is improving. Hence, they\u2019re approaching \u2018zero\u2019 in a way, and a new threat appears that basically threatens to take that away.\u201d Bigger, beefier \u2013 and with higher stakes. That\u2019s the James Cameron way.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read Empire<\/em>\u2019s full Godzilla Minus Zero<\/em> story in the Dune: Part Three issue \u2013 on sale now. Order a copy online here. Godzilla Minus Zero<\/em> comes to IMAX from November 3, and in UK cinemas from November 6.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Godzilla Minus One stomped into cinemas in 2023, it was instantly hailed as one of the greatest Godzilla films ever made \u2013 and rightly so. Director (and writer, and VFX supervisor) Takashi Yamazaki not only made the nuclear lizard scary again, but paired his arrival in post-World War II Japan with a touching human […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-15747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-47","tag-dune"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15749,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15747\/revisions\/15749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Empire](\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/godzilla-minus-zero-is-influenced-by-aliens-and-terminator-2-i-have-to-credit-james-cameron.jpg\")
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