‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Unleashes a Rotten Tomatoes Rampage That Could Rewrite Sequel History
When ‘Godzilla Minus One‘ arrived in 2023, few could have predicted it would become a worldwide sensation. Takashi Yamazaki’s film earned a near-perfect 99% on Rotten Tomatoes from 213 reviews and became the first ‘Godzilla’ movie to win an Academy Award, taking home Best Visual Effects. That set an almost impossible bar for whatever came next.
The follow-up is now almost here. Yamazaki returns as writer, director and visual effects supervisor for ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’, which picks up in 1949, two years after the events of the first film, and continues the story of the Shikishima family as they face a new calamity. Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe return, and King Ghidorah joins the fight in his first appearance in a mainline ‘Godzilla’ film in 24 years.
The film premiered at the New York Film Festival on Sept. 26 and opens in Japan on Nov. 3, followed by the U.S. on Nov. 6. It is also the first R-rated ‘Godzilla’ movie, and early reaction suggests it uses that rating to push the kaiju action and violence further than before.
Critics have been generous, and the number is still moving up. ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ has now risen to 97% on Rotten Tomatoes from 31 reviews, putting it on track to become one of the highest-rated sequels of all time. Its predecessor, for comparison, sits at 99%.
The climb has been steady. After the premiere, the film opened at 93% from 14 reviews, rose to 96% across 23 reviews, and has since reached 97%. Its reported average rating stands at 8.4 out of 10, just behind the first film’s 8.5.
If the score holds as more reviews arrive ahead of the November release, it would become the second-highest-rated ‘Godzilla’ movie on Rotten Tomatoes. That would put it above the original 1954 ‘Godzilla’, and well above the Monsterverse sequels, with ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ at 75% and ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ at 54%.
The number has also drawn comparisons to some of the most celebrated sequels in film history. FandomWire notes that 97% puts the film above James Cameron’s ‘Aliens’ at 94% and ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ at 91% on the same metric. The outlet was careful to point out that this is an early score, while those classics have decades of critical reassessment and far larger pools of reviews behind them.
The caveat matters, since a pre-release score can shift as more critics weigh in. Still, the head start is remarkable for a sequel that had to follow an Oscar winner. Some critics have even described the film as the kaiju franchise’s answer to ‘The Empire Strikes Back’.
The new trailer for ‘GODZILLA MINUS ZERO’ has been released.
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 8, 2026
In theaters on November 6. pic.twitter.com/sgaEXweerd
The debate is whether ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ matches ‘Godzilla Minus One’. RogerEbert.com’s Clint Worthington gave it 3 out of 4 stars, saying it does not quite reach the miraculous highs of its predecessor, though it still has plenty of bite. The only outright rotten review so far comes from The Daily Beast, though even that critic acknowledged the film has a lot going for it.
Other reviews are far more enthusiastic. GamesRadar praised the film’s devastating human drama and earth-shaking kaiju action, and said it may be even more emotionally affecting than ‘Godzilla Minus One’. Rotten Tomatoes’ own first-reviews roundup says the mass-destruction sequences thoroughly eclipse those of the first film in complexity, creativity and visual effects fidelity.
Not everyone agrees on the emotional side. IGN said the film delivers on the monster front but lacks the emotional resonance of its predecessor, while SlashFilm noted that its bigger ambitions come at a cost. DiscussingFilm’s Andrew J. Salazar called it a bold, audacious film that is angry in ways Hollywood blockbusters rarely are.
With the embargo lifted and the reviews strong, attention turns to the box office and whether the score survives a larger review pool. ‘Godzilla Minus One’ proved that audiences will show up for a human-centered monster story, and ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ is betting that a bigger, bloodier sequel can do the same.
The film is headed for a theatrical-only release in November. Early critical reaction suggests it could be one of the biggest moviegoing events of the season.
Can Godzilla Minus Zero surpass Godzilla Minus One?
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