‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Roars Onto Rotten Tomatoes With Glowing Reviews Ahead of Its Theatrical Release

Few modern monster movies have made an impact like ‘Godzilla Minus One’. Takashi Yamazaki’s 2023 film was made for less than $15 million, became one of the highest-grossing Japanese films of all time, and made history as the first ‘Godzilla’ film to win an Oscar, taking home Best Visual Effects.

Expectations for the follow-up were sky-high. ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’, again written and directed by Yamazaki, who also oversaw its visual effects, had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on September 26 ahead of a November release.

Now the early verdict is in, and it’s a big one. ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ currently holds a 95% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes from 41 reviews, putting it in rare company for a sequel to such an acclaimed predecessor.

Many reviewers believe Yamazaki has delivered something special again. GamesRadar+ called it one of the best films of the year, while Slashfilm described it as blockbuster filmmaking done right.

The visual effects have drawn some of the strongest praise. IndieWire said the effects improve dramatically on those in ‘Minus One’, and Discussing Film highlighted spectacle never seen in a ‘Godzilla’ movie before.

‘GODZILLA MINUS ZERO’ debits with a score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. In theaters November 6. https://t.co/XoXgD6k02q

— MovieHub (@moviehubnow) October 16, 2026

Some critics even think it tops the original. The Weekend Warrior argued it’s even better than ‘Minus One’ in every way, while Polygon praised its decision to double down on what made the first film work.

The reviews aren’t universally glowing. TheWrap called it a fine and exciting film but noticeably sillier than ‘Minus One’, suggesting it’s a great sequel rather than one of the all-time great ‘Godzilla’ movies.

The Daily Beast criticized the film for prioritizing its human characters over the monster action, and Inverse felt it was thematically all over the place. RogerEbert.com said it doesn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor, though it still has plenty of bite.

The final trailer for ‘GODZILLA MINUS ZERO’ has been released. In theaters on November 6. https://t.co/rmgd8FgXJy

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 11, 2026

Even so, ‘Minus Zero’ sits just below ‘Minus One’, which earned a 99% critics score and a 98% audience score. Matching that kind of reception was always going to be a tall order. Set in 1949, 2 years after the events of ‘Minus One’, the film follows the Shikishima family as they face a new calamity. The official synopsis teases that war reduced Japan to zero, Godzilla plunged it into minus, and now a new threat looms.

Several reviews point to a major showdown between Godzilla and King Ghidorah, which has fans especially excited. Some critics praised the monster battles as spectacular, though at least one found the clash underwhelming.

Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe return as Kōichi and Noriko Shikishima. They’re joined by Min Tanaka as new character Kanji Murakami, alongside returning cast members including Hidetaka Yoshioka, Yuki Yamada, Kuranosuke Sasaki and Sakura Ando.

The sequel was produced by Toho Studios and Robot Communications, with Shirogumi again handling the visual effects. Principal photography ran from August to December 2025.

Notably, it’s the first Japanese production filmed for IMAX, which helps explain why critics keep highlighting its scale. With a runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes, it’s an R-rated, larger canvas for Yamazaki’s vision.

‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ opens in Japan on November 3 through Toho. North American audiences can see it in theaters on November 6, with GKIDS handling distribution. The audience score hasn’t been posted yet, since general audiences won’t see the film until next month. Given how fans embraced ‘Minus One’, expectations are high.

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