Monster movies and disaster movies have always gone hand in hand for me. You go into both of them looking for similar things. You want suspense, action, and people dying in wild ways. Anything else like an actual intriguing plot, good acting, good cinematography, compelling characters, etc. are all a bonus.

There are two movies on Netflix at the moment that satisfy the basic requirements, one of them going above and beyond with the added bonuses. In these non-spoiler reviews I am going to dive into my thoughts on Godzilla Minus One and Under Paris and how they hold up to their respective genres.

Under Paris Review- 2.5/5 stars

I thought the inferior of the two movies was a good place to start so that we can lay the groundwork. To be honest, when I saw there was a Netflix original about a giant shark terrorizing Paris I thought this movie would be horrific. Earlier this year, I did my first watch of The Meg and Meg 2: The Trench. The first movie was a fun time for a giant shark disaster movie. Jason Statham always plays and there was a lot of fun shark scenes. However, the sequel was pretty horrific.

I expected big Meg 2: The Trench vibes with this movie but without Jason Statham being the man to make it even watchable. I honestly didn’t expect to even finish the movie or end up writing a review on it. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that this movie totally hooked me in.

As Jaws taught us, the opening scene is essential in these movies. The opening scene of Under Paris does a great job of establishing how terrifying this shark is and sets up our protagonist’s position for the rest of the movie. From that scene on, the movie never really slows down which is the most important thing.

The good: The kills and the gore. If you’re watching a monster/disaster movie the absolute baseline is that you want to see the monster/animal/tornado/hurricane/zombies do some wild shit. This movie fully satisfies that with this shark basically killing people start to finish in this movie. They also find new unique ways for the shark to kill and find some relatively creative ways to shoot these kills.

The director/writers also did a good job of being self-aware enough to realize in the grand scheme of things nobody cares about these characters. They didn’t waste time trying to build up too much. For our two central characters, we got enough backstory to get where they were coming from but they cut to the chase and didn’t take away from the shark.

The bad: There was nothing more than the base level to this movie. The effects weren’t amazing, you didn’t really care about the characters (which as I mentioned above is fine), and the ending made me say “oh boy” out loud (not in a good way).

Final take: Overall, this movie was all you could ask for from a Netflix disaster movie. If you need something to keep you entertained for a couple hours that you don’t really need to invest in mentally- this could be the movie for you.

Godzilla Minus One Review- 4.5/5 stars

This movie is a masterpiece. I was lucky enough to see this movie in theaters and had my mind blown. I did a rewatch as soon as it hit Netflix and while this movie was definitely made for the big screen, it was still really good on rewatch. I personally watched it in original Japanese with subtitles (as it was in the theater) but I have heard from people that watched the English dub that the dub is really well done so if you can’t handle the subtitles that seems like an okay route.

The good: This movie gives you everything you could want and more. In the same way I complimented Under Paris, this movie sets the scene right away with Godzilla being a badass. It also immediately sets up our protagonist’s relationship to Godzilla and reveals a ton about his character in a very short space of time.

The thing that takes this movie to the next level is that it gives you all of those bonus things I discussed that you could want in a disaster/monster movie. The effects are absolutely incredible and they were rewarded with an Academy Award for it. They also do a masterful job of getting you invested in these characters without taking away from the monster.

Their is a real love story to invest in, a group of bros to root for, and an incredibly deep perspective on post-World War II Japan. You get a real feel for the shame of the Japanese people from losing the war, the devastating effects of the bombings they took, the general PTSD of war (especially as a “failed” kamikaze pilot), and much more intertwined into scenes of Godzilla being a badass.

The bad: There really isn’t much bad in this. There were a couple scenes I would throw out but overall the only thing preventing this from hitting 5 stars for me is just that special feeling that you get when you know you just saw a flawless movie. However, I can’t even really conjure up anything articulate that is a knock on this movie.

Final take: This is a certified must-watch. I would highly, highly recommend watching in the original Japanese if you can. This is just a masterful display of special effects and storytelling within the frame of a Godzilla movie.

Both of these movies are fun monster/disaster movies but one of them obviously goes to a whole ‘nother level. Godzilla Minus One is a must-watch for basically any movie fan while Under Paris is a good movie to throw on in the background and you can guarantee to be entertained anytime you look up.