Zarkorr! The Invader, Godzilla-Lite

I couldn't resist. A giant monster played by a man in a rubber suit traipsing through miniature models of cities...we just don't get enough of that anymore. CGI has taken the fun out of monster movies and over-priced directors, talent, and f/x have bored us to no end. Perhaps 1996's "Zarkorr! The Invader" is no masterpiece, but neither are any of those stupid Marvel or DC films. Unlike those modern day superhero films, this one is fun.

Zarkorr awakes! The 200 foot monster busts out of a southern California mountain and goes on a rampage. He knocks down cities and sends out lasers from his eyes. The military is ineffective. But wait! Tommy (Rees Christian Pugh) is a Newark mailman and he is contacted by an intergalactic mall-tramp (Torrie Lynch). Apparently an intergalactic council wants to protect Earth from this fiend and selects the underachieving Tommy to kill the thing. They give him very few instructions but warn him that Zarkorr is heading straight for him and he better kill it before it kills him. Thinking fast, Tommy kidnaps the beautiful crypto-zoologist Stephanie (DePrise Grossman) from the set of a TV news broadcast.

Believing Tommy is crazy, Stephanie is hesitant to help. Eventually she kinda falls for the eager mailman and joins his quest. Enter Arthur (Charles Schneider), a weird hacker. He is able to help Tommy and Stephanie figure out a strategy for fighting Zarkorr. Now Charles and Stephanie head to Arizona where the creature has arrived. The plan? It is far fetched and the chances of it working are almost nil...but the sultry Stephanie believes in her new boyfriend and now our mailman gets brave and relishes in his new role as protector of the planet. As Tommy approaches Zarkorr, the fate of the world is in the balance.

Do Tommy and Stephanie have any shot at killing Zarkorr? Do all crypto-zoologists look like Stephanie? If successful, will Tommy seek to continue with the U.S. Postal Service? The monster f/x are so much fun and the plot is kept light and a bit tongue-in-cheek. For some man dressed in a rubber monster suit fun, see "Zarkorr! The Invader," directed by Michael Deak and Aaron Osborne.