Starship Troopers : L'Invasion de Mars

Starship Troopers has a long history dating back all the way to the tail end of the 1950's, it's movie's started in the 80's and ever since it's been a very rocky road. They hit pay dirt with 1997's Paul Verhoevens epic but after that it all fell rather flat.

In 2012 they released Invasion which was the first animated Starship Troopers movie and it wasn't bad, in fact it was the best since 1997 as parts 2 & 3 of the live action were pretty terrible.

Here in 2017 with Casper Van Dien returning as Rico and oddly Dina Meyer returning as Dizzy they succeeded again as this is the best Starship Troopers movie they've made (With the exception of 1997).

Also returning for the ride is Carmen and Carl, but don't expect them to be voiced by Denise Richards or Neil Patrick Harris.

The plot is a conspiracy regarding a bug outbreak on mars and it's actually not all that bad. The animation though not entirely fluid still looks the part and even if it is a tad cheesy the voice acting is on point.

Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars is a rather enjoyable addition to the franchise. More of this would be greatly appreciated.

The Good:

Looks great

Some oddly good humour

The Bad:

Dizzy looked weird

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Kicking someone to the ground who is in possession of a nuke makes perfect sense

Battlesuits come standard with butt cheeks

Approval ratings are monitered active and live at all times

Whatever meaning the novel and original movie Starship Troopers had is lost in this anime sequel that borrows its main character from Metal Gear Solid. This is not Rico, it is Big Boss. I wonder when the legal battle will ensue.

The whole political, moral and philosophical implications of an society dominated by the military and drenched in warfare is pushed to the background and so much so that merely making a reference to it seems to score favorable with the anime crowd. Oh blimey, they just quoted a line from the original movie! Awesome! As long as it is anime, which means over-muscled though guys, dramatic looking characters, supposedly funny nerds and long slender blacked hair girls with big breasts wearing suggestive outfits and anime haircuts. I swear that the air marshal is Lightning from Final Fantasy.

What we get served is a trashy story of a bunch of stereotypical newbies that get dropped in the midst of a surprise attack on Mars by aliens nobody except the audience saw coming. There are issues over Mars trying to gain independence for the federation, but this is never addressed properly because it is just required as a plot device to get the newbies fighting giant bugs over a planet and for a population we never see or hear from. It is just shallow window dressing.

What is even worse is that almost all the characters are boring run- of-the-mill anime tropes which is exacerbated by a shallow story-line that is goes something like: bunch of newbies wise up under stress to the surprise of their though as nails commander Rico.

This movie is best avoided for anyone but die hard anime fans.

Actually I do not dislike anime, but it ill fits with Starship Troopers. By all means, make a movie in which a bunch of staple characters fighting insectoid invaders. Just call it something else but Starship Troopers if that is all you want to do.

Both "Starship Troopers" the book, and the 1997 movie, are classics. The present movie in no way measures up to them. But it's a decent sequel. It has great action, good graphics, and despite what many others reviewers have said, the plot is not bad. It highlights important themes in the Starship Troopers universe, and sets up possibilities for future sequels.

It is great seeing Casper Van Dien back in action as the heroic Johnny Rico, even as an animated avatar. It's also nice to have Dina Meyer return as "Dizzy" Flores, in a significant role.

As strange as it may seem to say this, I actually prefer the two most recent animated offerings in the Starship Troopers franchise to live-action sequels 2 and 3. With animation, extraordinary sci-fi action scenes don't seem as unrealistic as they can in some live-action films. It's also easier to accept them as fun. Since it is unlikely that any further sequels will be able to come close to the success of the original film, animation may be the way forward for the franchise.

Serious funding was spent on the CG and the storytelling, only to be ruined by third-rate dialog. Would have been an asset to Starship Trooper if they had invested in better scriptwriters. I realize the cost restraints and the enormous effort in the creative department and voice actors. But to neglect in spending in a decent dialog writer is just a shame....

Glad they continued the CGI movies as they seem to be putting some good ST material out at long last. Don't listen to the pretensious reviewers picking apart every little thing that didn't give them the same experience they got from Verhoeven's adaptation or Heinlein's book (which was mostly about politics and not much about the bug war). It's a worthy addition to the ST storyline. Yes, it's got some cheesy voice acting. Really not that bad though. Casper Van Dien was nominated for a voice acting award for gods sake. LoL. Give it a chance you apes! :)