Those Japanese monsters are at it again giving jobs to the construction workers of the country with their continuing urban renewal. This time Mothra is battling another butterfly creature Battra who is a butterfly gone over to the dark side.

A meteor awakened Battra and an expedition finds Mothra with his two little girl guardians on an island in the Indonesian Archipelago. These two look like their going head to head for a bit. But that same meteor also got Godzilla up from his hibernation in the Pacific deep.

Destruction is spread around a bit with Nagoya and Yokohama taking some of the monster wrath. But the two butterflies decide they're going to tag team Godzilla in a handicap match.

Believe me watching these movies is just like watching the WWE.

GODZILLA AND MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH is a follow-up to GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH and a remake of sorts of the '60s kaiju GODZILLA VS MOTHRA. This is hugely entertaining kid's movie, filled to the brim with colourful special effects, spectacular scenes of destruction, and an engaging human storyline to boot.

The film's influences are many and varied, as you'll soon guess with the opening sequence featuring an Indiana Jones-style character raiding the ancient ruins at Angkor Wat. Before long we're knee-deep in a storyline involving a crashed meteorite, a reawakened Godzilla, the eruption of Mount Fuji, the emergence of a world-destroying creature called Battra, and of course Mothra himself.

Special emphasis is given to the character of Mothra, who is as hilarious as ever. As much as I love the giant furry moth, there's something undeniably hilarious about the creature in caterpillar form too, especially when hanging on to Godzilla's tail. I like the way the writers hark back to the '60s movies with the presence of the tiny twins and Infant Island; all good stuff. Plus, there's more giant monster action here than in the last film, although there's still time for plenty of human characters to get involved in a wider-reaching plot than usual. The message here is of the usual "save the environment" variety but it doesn't get in the way of what is a hugely enjoyable piece of entertainment.

It occurred to me while watching this that I'm in fact a lot like Godzilla, I lay in hibernation for these flicks and surface about once each year to check one out before hanging it up again. This stuff is so silly I can't imagine why they keep coming up with them. Godzilla here looks pretty much like I recall from other pictures, but Mothra was decked out in colorful new duds sprinkling cosmic fairy dust wherever he flies. Or is Mothra a she? Does anybody know?

What cracks me up about these films, (besides almost everything) is how one of the characters might yell out something like "Watch out for Godzilla. Get away!" while the monsters battle each other a couple of miles away. You think Godzilla heard that? Speaking of which, if you were actually watching a battle between Godzilla, Mothra and Battra, would you actually be cheering for your favorite from the sidelines?

Very cool though was the make up job on Mothra this time out - quite colorful after hatching out from that immense, plastic looking giant larva. The Cosmos was a nifty creative touch as well, those miniature singers were just what the picture needed to keep those mutant monsters in check. Look, I know these films were basically made for a pre-teen audience and the kids who watched these when they came out must have gotten a big kick out of them, but for anyone else, I guess I'd have to quote one of the Japanese scientists on their continued appeal - "This is beyond our present knowledge or understanding".