My dad and I decided to check out Toho's Godzilla Minus 1 last night. We had heard that it was really good, but I was not prepared for just HOW good this movie was. With Godzilla Minus 1, Toho has taken everything that was great about the original Godzilla (1954) movie (including parts of its iconic soundtrack), embraced the culture and veterans of post-war Japan, and used the titular monster as merely a setting piece for a stunning and exceptionally pro-masculine human story.

While Godzilla was rendered exceptionally well compared to the lousy CGI typically seen from Hollywood since The Lord of the Rings and Speed Racer mastered the art and the historic setting of post-war Japan was remarkable to see on the big screen, what really stood out was how refreshingly pro-male Godzilla Minus 1 is! The movie stars not the monster, but a coward kamikaze pilot who faked an aircraft problem to avoid certain death, and then froze when he had a chance to kill Godzilla before it mutated into the gargantuan monster it became. Suffering from severe PTSD from both the war and his experience with Godzilla, the pilot is also the victim of community scorn from everyone knowing he was a coward because that's the only reason a kamikaze pilot would survive the war. However, he manages to find work; which enables him to save for a home and develop friendships with other men, who help him be a better man for his love interest and her adopted daughter.

For decades, Hollywood has utterly failed western men. Hollywood no longer creates stories that show men being good role models. According to Hollywood, men are stupid, arrogant, unheroic anti-heroes, comic relief, or little more than secondary supporting characters to female leads. Of course, exceptions can be made if the character is homosexual, non-binary, or some other kind of protected status to get that DEI checkbox checked. Even in those few cases, a strong female leader is needed somewhere in those stories. Not in Godzilla Minus One! Those characters are MEN. Heterosexual Japanese men. Not diverse by Hollywood standards, but diverse with exceptionally unique personalities, life experiences, and strengths and weaknesses. It doesn't do well on that DEI checklist, but it's instantly relatable for men all over the world.

Honestly, not since Lord of the Rings have I seen such a blatant display of HEALTHY MASCULINITY in a film; and even then, Godzilla Minus One might have done it better.

If you have teenage boys (younger boys may struggle to understand PTSD and the significance of post-war Japan culture), you have to take them to see Godzilla Minus 1 while it's still in theaters. There are no awkward sex scenes, no dopey males, no Mary Sues (or Kennys). It's just a great film you have to see with the man (or young man) in your life.