Godzilla 2000 MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +2 Content: +1/2

Inspired by the 1998 Hollywood blockbuster, the original Japanese producers of the 46-year-old series created their 23rd story about the giant monster that both destroys and guards Tokyo. As Godzilla returns to the Japanese shores, two conflicting ideas of how to deal with the monster emerge. The GPN (Godzilla Prediction Network), a group of scientists, want to study the giant radioactive lizard while the CCI (Crisis Control Intelligence) agency wants to destroy the beast before it destroys Tokyo. But CCI scientists have also discovered a meteorite on the ocean floor that turns out to be a rock encrusted UFO. It houses an alien that would like a special agent in Godzilla's blood to help adapt to earth's atmosphere. Of course, Godzilla has a different opinion. Complete with corny dialogue poorly dubbed into English, GODZILLA 2000 is pure escapism fare for the end of summer.

The dubbed dialogue does contain some rough language, but the emphasis is on the battling monsters. Between Godzilla's destruction of power plants and walking through town like a bull in a china shop, lots of property destruction occurs. And even more when the alien monster and Big G go at it in the center of town. No human deaths occurs on screen, although one man falls to his apparent end. So with a warning about some poor vocabulary and lots of urban renewal, GODZILLA 2000 can be a fun outing for viewers 10 and older.

Preview Reviewer: Paul Bicking
Distributor: TriStar/Columbia Pictures, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232