By Steve Ryfle
Story
Godzilla rises from the deep and fights the Japanese military. Then another, more terrifying enemy appears, so Japan decides to leave Godzilla alone so he can defeat the bad guys. It's a formula that has remained unchanged for 46 years and 22 movies. Why mess with success? The Japanese Godzilla looks like a man in a rubber suit walking through a model city but, hey, he's King of the Monsters because he delivers the goods -- unlike that unspeakable, digitized American 'Zilla from 1998.
Acting
Be honest. When it comes to Godzilla movies, you don't care how good (or bad) the Japanese actors are. What matters is the dubbing, and in this case, it's actually not all bad. TriStar Pictures hired mostly Asian actors for that "authentic" sound. The English dialogue ranges from somewhat witty (there are references to "Patton" and the old "Superman" TV show) to the naively stupid (like when a scientist exclaims: "Let's use the electron microscope!"). The lips don't match the words (as usual), so if you still think that's funny, you'll laugh.
Direction
What matters here is the special-effects wizardry. The effects aren't up to "Phantom Menace" standards (remember, this is a $10 million movie), but they're better than in the Godzilla flicks you remember from childhood. The Godzilla costume is better than ever: never before has the monster looked so truly huge, and his incendiary death ray is more impressive and destructive. There are lots of good miniature cities, too. Still, the alien spaceship and the extraterrestrial monster it begets (a clumsy, big-fisted thing that tries to eat Godzilla) are less than stunning.