Johnny Rico is back, and he’s brought an old friend.
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars is now available on Digital HD and hits 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray and DVD September 19.
Warning: there are minor spoilers ahead for Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars.
Twenty years ago, director Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers brought Robert A. Heinlein’s classic sci-fi novel to the big screen with style and flare. It was far from a perfect movie, but it was very enjoyable. However, the subsequent Starship Troopers films have all been direct-to-video, and none of them have ever come close to matching the first movie in terms of quality.
In theory, Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars could have been the perfect way to revitalize the franchise. The writer of the first film, Edward Neumeier, penned the new movie as well, and two of the original cast members provided their voices. Casper Van Dien reprised his role as Johnny Rico, while Dina Meyer returned as Dizzy Flores. Starship Troopers viewers may recall that Dizzy lost her life in the original movie, so her return was unexpected. There is an explanation for Dizzy’s appearance in this story that really works, and the emotional connection between Rico and Dizzy is actually the best part of the entire thing. Their shared history comes across, and the tragedy of Dizzy’s fate is felt within all of her scenes. Unfortunately, she’s only around for only a few minutes of screentime.
If you’re coming to this film for the alien bug-killing action, then you’re in luck. There’s plenty of that to be found. In terms of animation, many of the action sequences were well-rendered and entertaining. There is something undeniably fun about seeing the characters cut loose on the bugs. However, the animation still has some inherent flaws when it comes to creating characters who convincingly feel human. Watching two characters kiss is like seeing two lifeless plastic dolls peck at each other. There’s no soul behind it.
Neumeier’s story takes place a few decades after the first movie, with Rico almost unrecognizable as a hardened veteran who has to train a group of Martian recruits. That’s where the movie starts to fall about. Neumeier’s new characters act and sound like they escaped from a season of Red vs. Blue, and they never amount to more than caricatures. Over-the-top performances were a part of the first movie as well, but real people can get away with a lot more than CGI creations. If they come off as canon fodder, it’s because they are.
Another troubling aspect of Neumeier’s script is that it is almost completely lacking the sense of humor that made the first film so watchable. None of the scenes on Mars are funny, and the few attempts to recreate the satirical tone of the fake news broadcasts simply doesn’t work at all. This is a humorless movie that doesn’t seem to realize its own shortcomings.
The film does bring back Carl Jenkins and Carmen Ibanez, but without Neil Patrick Harris or Denise Richards in their former roles. It would have been a nice touch if Harris and Richards had returned, but neither character gets a lot to do in the story. This is primarily Rico’s tale, and the most engaging part of the film finds Rico near the end of his rope on Mars, and nearly defenseless against the alien horde. If the rest of the script had been as compelling as those scenes, this could have been a worthy entry in the series.
Once the film reveals who is behind the devastation on Mars and why, it becomes impossible to take the villain seriously. That person’s motivations and plans are so ludicrous that they defy both comedy and logic. It fails even as a commentary on current events and the obsession with polls. There is a dark undercurrent around the fate of Mars, but it just never comes together in a coherent way. The build up was intriguing, but the revelation and the payoff were beyond lackluster. It’s a better sequel than either of the live-action follow up movies, but it’s still not worthy of the Starship Troopers name.
The Verdict
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars has moments where it comes together, and some of the action is legitimately exciting. Between Rico and Dizzy, there are even a few emotional scenes that really hit their mark. The limitations of the animation keep the characters from ever fully emoting, but it’s the script that lets down the rest of the film. In live-action, with a tighter script, this could have been something special. Instead, it’s largely forgettable.
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