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I just looked at the calendar and realized Godzilla Minus Zero is only a few weeks away. For some weird reason, it still felt like we were months out. But here we are, with Toho releasing the final trailer as New York Comic-Con wraps up its weekend.
And, oddly enough, this one didn’t do much for me.
Call it Minus Zero: it hasn’t subtracted from my excitement, but it hasn’t added anything either.
The new trailer lacks the impact of that first teaser and the previous trailer. It’s very human, filled with character moments, with relatively little Godzilla. That isn’t inherently a problem. The characters were a huge part of why Godzilla Minus One worked so spectacularly. But this particular trailer doesn’t deliver the same emotional punch or sense of terror.
It does save a big, loud, scary finish for the end, though. That’s the kind of thing I imagine would be spectacular in a Dolby auditorium or whichever premium theater is currently charging us the most money to have our seats rattled.
We also published our review this weekend, and Rory Doherty’s 3/5 assessment is more reserved than the ecstatic early reactions I’d been seeing.
Doherty praises the monster battles and visual effects, but finds the character arcs repetitive and the pacing sluggish. There’s spectacle here, and he makes that clear. The disappointment is in how the human story holds it all together.
That doesn’t invalidate anyone else’s enthusiasm. Our writer simply didn’t have the same experience. But it does line up with some of the hesitation this trailer left me feeling.
The first movie is an Oscar-winning spectacle that, for me, delivers on every level. I still want that experience again. I just wish this final trailer had sent me into opening weekend a little more excited.
Takashi Yamazaki returns as director, writer, and visual effects supervisor for the sequel, which takes place two years after Godzilla Minus One.
Tickets are on sale now, with North American IMAX early-access screenings November 3, followed by the nationwide release November 6 through GKIDS. Japan gets the film November 3 through Toho.
What do you think? Did this final trailer do it for you?