GODZILLA MINUS ZERO Roars to a Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

Godzilla is back, King Ghidorah is joining the fight, and critics are already loving what they’ve seen.

Godzilla Minus Zero has screened for critics following its premiere at the New York Film Festival, and the sequel has come roaring out of the gate with a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 33 reviews.

That puts it just behind Godzilla Minus One, which sits at an incredible 99%. If the Minus Zero score holds as more reviews arrive ahead of its November release, it would become the second-highest-rated Godzilla movie on Rotten Tomatoes, topping the original 1954 Godzilla.

The new film is a direct sequel to Godzilla Minus One and picks up two years after the events of the first movie. Godzilla obviously remains a massive problem, but he isn’t the only monster entering the picture. The final trailer confirmed that King Ghidorah is coming to cause some serious destruction as well.

The early reviews suggest the sequel is going bigger with its monster action while keeping the human story at the center of everything.

GamesRadar praised the film saying: "With devastating human drama and earth-shaking kaiju action, Godzilla Minus Zero ups the ante in every way from its predecessor – and is easily one of the best films of the year."

Slashfilm noted that its increased ambition comes with some tradeoffs: "Minus Zero aims higher, dreams bigger, and branches out even wider than "Minus One" ever did — but such ambitions come at a cost."

Polygon also found plenty to like about the larger scale and emotional side of the sequel: "While the follow-up might be missing some of the filmmaking ingenuity that made the last entry so special (nothing quite matches that Jaws-inspired boat chase), it more than makes up for it with a grander spectacle and more heart-wrenching drama."

The Guardian praised the movie's blend of kaiju action, disaster spectacle, and horror: "Godzilla Minus Zero cross-breeds its fight-to-the-death grappling with disaster-movie scope and horror-movie teeth. Yet it also doesn't go in for the overkill; like its predecessor, the movie favors quality of visual effects over quantity."

IGN was a little less enthusiastic about the emotional side of the story, but still praised its monster action: "Godzilla Minus Zero doesn’t disappoint in the slightest on the kaiju front, but does lack the same level of emotional resonance that its predecessor held.”

I love seeing Godzilla Minus Zero getting reviews this strong. I’m such a huge fan of Godzilla Minus One, and everything I’ve seen from this sequel has me incredibly excited to see how the story continues.

Minus One worked so well because the monster spectacle actually mattered to the characters caught in the middle of it. Now we’re getting the continuation of that story with Godzilla back and King Ghidorah entering the fight. Yeah, I’m absolutely ready for this!

Godzilla Minus Zero arrives in theaters November 6.