He’s a lizard, a true star. Such was the reaction in Japan, where a 70-year local movie industry stalwart has received his first-ever Oscar nomination. The short-listed saurian was born Gojira in 1954. However, to the rest of the world, he’s better known as Godzilla. And now, having smashed his way through cities worldwide, he’s finally broken his Academy Awards curse courtesy of a Best Visual Effects nod for Godzilla Minus One.
Godzilla Minus One packs the emotional punch Oppenheimer aimed for and missed, as both movies tackle themes of nuclear destruction, remorse, and the human cost of war.