Godzilla Minus One maintains historic Rotten Tomatoes score

Toho Studios’ Godzilla Minus One still has its jaws firmly clamped on a franchise-best Rotten Tomatoes score ahead of its international release.

Godzilla Minus One is the 33rd entry in Toho’s Godzilla canon. An early celebration of Godzilla’s 70-year history, it is both a franchise reboot and reimagining of the original 1954 Godzilla movie.

Godzilla Minus One’s Japanese debut was on November 3, however, the kaiju blockbuster’s wider release doesn’t kick off until December 1. The US and Canada are among the regions to see the film first, while audiences in the UK and Ireland will have to wait until December 15.

Interestingly, Toho has opted not to produce an English-language dub of Godzilla Minus One, releasing it with Japanese audio and English subtitles instead. While it’s too soon to say how this will affect Godzilla Minus One’s global box office, it certainly hasn’t hurt the flick’s Rotten Tomatoes score.

Godzilla Minus One maintains historic Rotten Tomatoes score

At the time of writing, Godzilla Minus One has a 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Although it’s held this perfect rating for over two weeks now, the total number of reviews since then has climbed from six to 31.

These additional positive notices are enough to make Godzilla Minus One the highest-ranked Godzilla installment on Rotten Tomatoes, beating out 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. That film also sits at 100% – but from only six reviews. This means that, unlike Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah doesn’t qualify for “Certified Fresh” status.

As you’d expect, the Godzilla Minus One reviews aggregated by Rotten Tomatoes are glowing. Variety‘s Richard Kuipers opined that “Takashi Yamazaki’s reboot gets back to basics in grand style, with engrossing human drama alongside spectacular mass destruction.”

The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Bob Strauss agreed with Kuipers, also praising Godzilla Minus One’s street-level focus. “It’s only taken 69 years, but there’s finally a Godzilla movie with compelling human interest.”

Inverse‘s Eric Francisco went a step further, declaring that Godzilla Minus One “is perhaps one of the finest movies of the kaiju genre ever put to screen since Ishiro Honda’s Gojira kicked off the franchise in 1954.”

MonsterVerse director praises Godzilla Minus One

These critics and others like them aren’t alone in branding Godzilla Minus One a franchise high point, either. Filmmaker Gareth Edwards, who directed 2014’s Godzilla, recently described Toho’s latest effort as “a candidate for the best Godzilla movie of all time.”

“There were a lot of things that I felt were very new for Godzilla [in Godzilla Minus One], and I felt jealous the whole time I was watching the movie,” Edwards said. “This is what a Godzilla movie should be.”

Godzilla Minus One arrives in cinemas on December 1. For all the latest Godzilla content, be sure to check out Dexerto’s full coverage here.