Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color review – magnificent monster in mono

It’s 70 years since Godzilla first stomped into cinemas, and the big lad has barely aged a day. He’s the Cher of movie monsters: constant reinvention, permanent icon status (even in his ropier moments), while never being afraid to play the hits and give the people what they want. Which in Godzilla’s case is a big fire-breathing lizard smooshing skyscrapers to rubble while the people below flee like ants. That’s exactly what you got a satisfying amount of in Godzilla Minus One – and now it’s re-released in monochrome as, wait for it, Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color. Do you see what they did there?

The film, if you recall, opened by introducing its human protagonist Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) in the dog days of the second world war, who has just faked mechanical failure in his plane to avoid a kamikaze mission. Then Godzilla attacks the airfield and he immediately prioritises his own safety over that of his cohort. Our hero is, therefore, sort of a coward, or at least has a healthy sense of self-preservation. That ambiguity may be relatively common in our postmodern world, but we’re used to seeing our main character cowards rendered in colour. There is something novel about seeing a second world war pilot who doesn’t want to fight rendered in black and white. The leading man in such movies normally is the straight arrow with an excess of bravery, on whom we can count to save the day.

Such subtleties aside, the other reason to see the new version of Godzilla Minus One is simply that it looks really great. Some rules of style are eternal, and black and white films are beautiful. As it turns out, the monochrome look is particularly flattering to the big beastie himself, who in this iteration has a wonderfully antic glint in his eye, without ever quite becoming actively clownish; he’s somehow funnier in colour. If monochrome re-releases are a gimmick, they’re at least a lovely-looking gimmick.

• Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color is in UK cinemas from 1 November.