Godzilla
(Columbia TriStar)
The new Godzilla is the ideal '90s
movie icon -- smart, streamlined, openly emotional, androgynous, and bigger
than the Titanic. Like the original, he's the mutant product of
radioactive fallout from nuclear testing in the South Pacific, but he moves in
on Manhattan, not Tokyo, in search of sustenance and a place to raise a family.
And he's a lot more interesting than his human antagonists -- biologist Nick
Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick), plucky TV journalist Audrey (Maria Pitillo),
reckless cameraman Animal (Hank Azaria), and mysterious French commando
Philippe (Jean Reno). The plot and the characters and the acting aren't much,
but when it comes to special effects, Emmerich's destructothon will have you
singing, "We're off to see the lizard!"
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