Review: 'Starship Troopers: Invasion'

For most people it's been a long time since they've experience anything Starship Troopers, probably not since the franchise was released  in 1997. The first being a cult classic of 90s sci-fi action movies captured the minds of many. So much so that they have continued to do sequels to that movie all released direct to DVD, most of which did very poorly. There was one bright spot though in 1999, a CG animated series was created for television that was pretty good and well received. That brings us to the new sequel in the franchise Starship Troopers: Invasion, a VOD release all done in CG and produced in Japan. It’s sad to say this new movie shares more in common with previous live-action sequels in quality and not the TV show, even though it’s made in a similar fashion to the latter.

Starship Troopers: Invasion begins toward the end of the story and flashbacks the viewer to the beginning 4h hours earlier. A Federation outpost at Fort Casey is under attack from the Bugs (Arachnid spider creatures that humans are at war with in the franchise) and the ship Alesia is sent to help the Starship John A. Warden transport survivors and Military Intelligence Officers back to Earth.  Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris’ character from the original film) who now runs Military Intelligences Paranormal warfare division takes the John A. Warden on a secret mission leaving the Alesia,  which is then sent on a mission to find it with the help of Capt. Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards’character from the original) and get the ship back to Earth.

Well this whole thing is a mess from start to finish. A lot of what you just read came from trying to match up what you see with the synopsis. They start you right in the middle of the story and never make it clear what's going on. To tell the truth it’s like sitting through a middling First person shooter but only getting the rendered cut scenes and none of the game storyline. The movie also seemed very focus on showing CG female nudity, like some of the old anime films used to do. It just isn't as interesting when you're an adult. Most of the CG is ok but everything looks very plastic and too smooth most of the time. The few space battles are very cool, and if there were more of those that could’ve helped make the movie more enjoyable.  

Starship Troopers: Invasion is something to stay far away from. This is not something you should rent even though it has some bug killing action. Do yourself a favor and just go play a video game like StarCraft 2, Gears of War or Halo. You’ll feel way better about yourself afterwards and still have your four bucks.