Taking “Godzilla” out of its post-war Japan setting, a country and culture struggling to take on the mantle of victimhood but silently knowing they deserved to be punished, kind of ruined most of the recent iterations of the monster for me.

A warning against technology, nuclear proliferation and heedless “progress” that awakens the dark side of nature only goes so far. What’s been missing is the knowledge that this awful thing is something they brought down on themselves, through brutal aggression, crimes against humanity, racism and barbarism.

Veteran Japanese director Takashi Yamazaki gives us that setting, and perhaps some of that original terror and guilt back in this version of “Oh no, there goes Tokyo.”

“Godzilla Minus One” opens Dec. 1.