Believe it or not it’s been 20 years since the original
STARSHIP TROOPERS hit the screen. The movie was an amazing science fiction
spectacle that brought to life the visions of author Robert J. Heinlein. Altered
slightly the film showed a battle hungry group of soldiers battling to save the
Earth from an invasion of bug styled creatures. Since the film came out there
have been 4 sequels including this one, the latest.
The story opens with a group of new soldiers, natives of
Mars, who have joined the military to protect their planet from any potential
invasions. At the helm of training these untested soldiers is world weary
warrior Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), the main hero of the first film. Scarred
and missing an eye he runs them through simulation after simulation and the end
results are not good. Raw and untrained they seem to lack the killer instinct
and comradery it will take to make a formidable fighting force.
As their training is going on the Federation has launched a
massive attack on the bugs as they call these invaders. Led by Johnny’s one
time pal Carmen Ibanez (Luci Christian) the fleet arrives expected and taking
on casualties. During the middle of this battle Carmen is telepathically contacted
by Carl Jenkins (Justin Doran) to leave the battle and head for Mars. Before he
can explain he is captured by a group as yet unidentified.
As the film progresses we learn that Sky Marshal Amy Snapp
(Emily Neves) is setting things in motion to place herself in a position of
power greater than she already has. The Martians were contemplating leaving the
Federation and in an effort to make that a decision not worth taking she has
set up a bug invasion on Mars knowing they are unprepared to defend yet. Her
plan is for the planet to fall and when that happens blow it up, a word of
warning to other planets. But she didn’t count on Rico and his troops.
To begin with this time around the film is all CGI which
doesn’t take anything away when you take into consideration all of the effects
for the live action films were CGI. The story is less complicated than you
would think and it moves along quickly setting up the action sequences while
providing more depth of story than one might expect. The end result is a worthwhile
addition to the series and fun for sci-fi fans as well as those of the films.
What really makes this one nice is the fact that both Casper
Van Dien and Dina Meyers have returned for this one. Meyers returns as Dizzy
Flores, Ricco’s love interest from the first film who was killed in the same.
This time around Dizzy is a mirage, an image sent to Ricco’s mind to keep him
moving forward. Both of these actors have gone on to other films so it is nice
to see them return to the movie that moved the two of them forward at the time.
Hopefully more will decide to follow suit should they go onward with more
movies like this.
If you’re a fan of the films you’ll want to add this one to
your collection. It may be steering away from the anti-military sentiment of
the first film but the story of battling against bugs rages on.
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