‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Roars Into Theaters With a Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

Few franchise sequels have faced as much pressure as ‘Godzilla Minus Zero‘. Its predecessor, ‘Godzilla Minus One’, was one of the biggest surprises of 2023, a post-war monster movie that turned a modest budget into a global phenomenon.

That film was made for a reported $15 million and grossed more than $116 million worldwide. It earned about $56 million in North America, making it the highest-grossing Japanese-language live-action film of all time there. It also won Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards, the first Oscar win for any Godzilla movie and the first for a Japanese-language film in that category.

Writer-director Takashi Yamazaki, who also supervised the effects, has now returned for the follow-up. With that kind of legacy, a strong reception from critics was far from guaranteed.

The early verdict is in, and it’s overwhelmingly positive. After its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ debuted at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes from its first 22 reviews. It briefly climbed to 97% from 33 reviews, and it currently sits at 95% from 41 reviews. The audience Popcornmeter hasn’t populated yet.

That’s just shy of the first film’s 99% critics score, and it would make the sequel the second most acclaimed Godzilla movie on the site if it holds. The 1954 original is now behind it. ‘Godzilla Minus One’ also holds a 98% audience score.

The film opens in Japan on Tuesday, Nov. 3, which is Godzilla Day, the anniversary of the original film’s 1954 release. North American audiences get it just three days later, on Friday, Nov. 6, via GKIDS, which Toho acquired in 2024. It runs 2 hours and 15 minutes and is rated R.

Reviewers largely agree that Yamazaki has made a bigger, bolder movie. Several praised its mix of heartfelt human drama and earth-shaking monster mayhem, with some calling it even better than the original. The Guardian highlighted the way it blends fight-to-the-death kaiju action with disaster-movie scope and horror-movie teeth while favoring quality of effects over quantity.

Not every critic was won over. IGN gave it a 7/10, saying it delivers on the kaiju front but lacks the emotional resonance of the first film. Slashfilm’s 7.5/10 review said the larger ambition comes at a cost, and Screen Rant’s 5/10 called it mediocre. One critic noted that the film spends much of its time on defense planning rather than action. Even so, most of the reviews fall firmly on the fresh side, and The Daily Beast’s was the lone early rotten score.

The sequel begins in 1949, two years after the events of ‘Godzilla Minus One’, and continues the story of the Shikishima family as they face a new calamity. Ryunosuke Kamiki returns as Koichi Shikishima, with Minami Hamabe back as Noriko. Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Miou Tanaka and Sae Nagatani also return, while Min Tanaka joins as Kanji Murakami, a biologist with deep psychological scars from the war.

The first teaser revealed a trip to New York for Godzilla, with humanity so desperate to destroy the monster that it considers answering one apocalypse with another by dropping a nuclear bomb. Reports also say King Ghidorah enters the fray this time. The film was produced by Toho Studios and ROBOT, with effects by Shirogumi, and it’s the first Japanese project filmed for IMAX.

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

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 8, 2026

The strong reception is especially notable because sequels to critical darlings rarely match their predecessors. Consequence’s July trailer coverage said ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ could be an equally powerful contender in next year’s awards race, given how admired the first film’s effects were.

Box office could be the next big test. Yamazaki has said the budget would likely be larger this time around, and the near-simultaneous release in Japan and North America is a rare move for a Japan-produced Godzilla film. If audiences respond as critics have, the film could extend the franchise’s remarkable run.

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