Back in November of 1997 a little film called "Starship Troopers" was released in theaters. Starring a cast of up and coming actors, among them Denise Richards who. up to that point, had mostly done TV work. Joining her and curiously receiving top billing was another with mostly TV work, a little known actor named Casper Van Dien. The movie was set up to be his launching pad to stardom and a rebound for director Paul Paul Verhoeven after the debacle that was "Showgirls." The man was returning to his stomping grounds, a sci-fi tale rife with satire ala his "RoboCop" and "Total Recall" films. He had even brought "RoboCop" screenwriter Edward Neumeier along for the ride. Alas, the $105 million budgeted film flopped on delivery, grossing a meager $54,814,377 in domestic box office and barely breaking even after foreign box office was taken into account.
Then something happened. The film exploded on home video, renting like mad and becoming something of a cult hit. Sensing money to be made, Sony finally got around to sequelizing it in 2004 with "Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation." The direct-to-video release was a decent performer, easily besting its $7 million production budget. Some fans remained disappointed as Casper Van Dien and, more importantly, the satire that made the original such a cult hit, were missing in action. Instead, the film featured a new cast of characters and a tone akin to a straight-ahead horror film. Well, four years later, series writer Edward Neumeier has reinstated the satire, not only writing but also making his directorial debut. Also, Casper Van Dien is back to reprise his role as the gung-ho Johnny Rico. Does the third entry's bigger budget and tonal shift help or was the series actually better off switching to horror?
Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) is back on lead his team on a secret mission to rescue a small crew of troopers stranded on the remote desert planet of OM-1. Battling bugs, both new and old, the new "Marauder" advanced weapons technology may be their only hope against a treasonous element operating within the Federation itself. As Captain Lola Beck (Jolene Blalock) and the rest of the starship crew fight to survive in the harsh conditions, it begins to dawn to them that something on OM-1 is very, very wrong. This time the bugs have a secret weapon that could destroy humanity.
Nowhere near as good as the original but more enjoyable than the sequel, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder is a passable amalgam of sci-fi and satire.
Surprisingly, the film gets what you'd expect it to get right wrong and vice versa. The action sequences are as fun and gooey as ever. The special effects are quite impressive, looking on par with the original and illustrating just how far the technology has come in little over a decade. The only mild disappointment with these sequences is that they aren't as gleefully gory as they were in two previous films. The red stuff simply doesn't fly like it used to. The performances are game with most notably, Van Dien obviously glad to be back doing a film with a bigger budget than the usual direct to Sci-Fi Channel stuff he has done pretty much since the original "Starship Troopers."
It is the satire stuff that drags the film down. The "Federal Network" interstitial segments, like before, pretty much play as thinly-veiled recruitment videos. But now they also take predictable jabs at the U.S. military and the Iraq War. These parts are way too obvious and tired to be of any note. The plot machinations that take further jabs at real world events are almost as tired. But what is most confounding is the earnest and decidedly straight forward inclusion of a religious component. A few of the soldiers have found religion and they proceed to preach the power of their most likely Christian God (the Christian part is never overtly said but made rather obvious by other elements) to others. This is the first film in which a action sequence of soldiers killing giant bugs has been combined with the scene of two characters kneeling and chanting the "Our Father" prayer. It is a jarring sequence, to say the least.
Overall, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder is worth seeing for the further decently thrilling adventures of the Federation and its ongoing battle with the bugs. I'd welcome a fourth film if they are so inclined.
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