Hailed as the first Thai giant monster/kaiju film, Garuda is not what it was hyped to be. The comparison to classic Godzilla films is the wrong one to make, given the small design of the creature. That creature is stuck inside a movie with little potential or original ideas.

The directorial style here borrows quite a bit from American filmmakers with enough personal touches to make Garuda stand out somewhat. A few of the battle scenes are original, including a nice one-on-one struggle in a long hallway. Sadly, that's an all too brief moment of success.

For the most part, Garuda is Alien in an underground cavern. Construction opens up an undisturbed area and a team is called in to investigate. This elite, arrogant, and low numbered squad is nothing more than monster bait.

The majority of the film shows these troops shooting at a decent set of computer generated effects. Roughly 20-feet tall, Garuda is based on Thai folklore. If you can imagine an eagle with human feet and arms, you'll get the idea. The problem is the creature is rendered almost to the point of cuteness. Even as it's swatting away enemies, you're either baffled by how anyone could consider the monster a threat, why the director insists this is a giant monster film, or how obvious the special effects can be from shot to shot. There are no scare tactics to be had here.

The barren plot is only a means to get things moving. While there is some attempt to provide some back story on the characters, it's either not needed or completely unexplained. One of the military leaders has flashbacks to some kind of giant snake attack on his squad. Its origins, purpose, or meaning are never explained – a lot like the ending.

For the most part, Garuda is indestructible, a staple of the Japanese kaiju genre. Bullets seem to have no effect. The somewhat passable finale could have been exciting had the film followed its own set of rules. Out of nowhere, Garuda is dismantled by gunfire from a single soldier (even though he managed to escape being hit by 10 of them in the early going) to set up the final moments. It's a jarring misstep, and one that becomes the final thought as the credits roll.