The Independence Day team of writer-director Roland Emmerich and writer-producer Dean Devlin update the Japanese monster series with dubious results. The picture’s fatal flaw is its inability to give us any consistent sense of Godzilla’s size. One minute the creature is knocking down skyscrapers with a swish of its tale and the next it’s hiding between buildings from the U.S. Army (the action mostly takes place in New York City). Even more ridiculous is Godzilla’s habit of burrowing into subway tunnels to escape. And if you hoped for a little personality in your monster, forget about it. Godzilla is as bland as the humans scurrying at its feet (which include Matthew Broderick, Hank Azaria, Jean Reno and Maria Pitillo).
