A deliciously stupid modern-era Godzilla rumble, in which soldiers and scientists who have been personally wronged by the monster (having lost friends and family to collateral destruction) attempt to remove him from the Earth by way of an orbiting black hole cannon. Even the early Godzilla plots would be ashamed by the utter inanity of a weapon that fires an uncontrollable matter-eating vortex, and that's saying something considering their nonchalant use of microscopic tribal princesses and scheming alien cockroaches. This complete disregard for the slightest hint of reality actually makes the pedestrian scenes more inadvertently entertaining than the stereotypical monster mayhem they introduce, a reverse of the typical formula. What scientific nonsense will they flaunt next?

The King of Monsters himself appears sleek and mean in his beefy, manga-influenced Godzilla 2000 suit. The physical effects - building-stomping and plane-swatting - look no more convincing than in the past, and the CG elements are somehow even worse. One exception to that is the big guy's infamous fire breath, a surprisingly impressive visual that plays very well in the climactic battle. The fight scenes are drawn-out and slow, foreshadowing an enemy weakness for far too long, but the brainless plot makes for playful, hilarious viewing. Even if that's just a happy accident.