Starship Troopers: Invasion

"Welcome back the good old classic Starship Troopers"

For anyone who isn't familiar with the name "Starship Troopers" should really do a wikipedia search. The first Starship Troopers movie was a really well made blockbuster sci fiction movie. It catapulted the franchise, as well as actor Casper Van Dien into fame, as the famous "Johnny Rico".

After 2 horrible low budget sequels (Starship Troopers 2 & 3), I am sure almost everyone had extremely low, or zero expectations, when they heard another Starship Troopers movie was being made.

Original Star Actor, now turned Producer, Casper Van Dien did say in an earlier interview that he wanted "Starship Troopers" ... to return to its first movie's roots. I'll say it jolly well did.....
"Hoo Haa!!"

Story (9/10)
Carmen's ship got taken over by Carl Jenkins, Carl goes missing in space with it. Carmen finds it back and boards it with a new group of mobile infantry to investigate, simple sci fi opening.

The story is small in scale compared to the original first movie. And I can tell it got some inspiration from a certain game called "Dead Space". But what REALLY makes this work was because producer Casper Van Dien, and the scriptwriters, brought back many of the nuances that made the original first movie a classic. The script and execution are great examples of sci-fi action/survivor horror done right.


Art (9/10)
For an 3D animated movie the quality and detail of the artwork is really high. The guns, new mobile infantry armor, backdrops and characters are well designed with high attention to detail. Japanese Animation's high standards really shines through here.


Sound (9/10)
Great sound and music really contributes to this action/survivor horror sci fi movie. Silence is used greatly as a tension builder. Then adrenaline pumping hollywood music is used when the troopers and bugs start fighting and dying by the second.


Character (9/10)
All the new characters are great add-ons to this movie. Each of them have unique personalities. Some time was spent on the character development of the cast members, but not so much that the movie feels dragged out. This all helps the audience to root for the survival of every member of the crew when all the horrific fighting and dying starts.


Enjoyment & Overall (9/10)
I absolutely enjoyed this animated movie. It really retained all the elements that made the first starship troopers movie so great. Great characters, glorious hollywood shooting action, quick character deaths that shock the viewers, and the tension of never knowing whats going to happen next.

They also made sure to include scenes of self sacrificing troopers, trying to buy their allies precious seconds to run away or complete the mission. These scenes of honorable self sacrifice are iconic of the first "Starship Troopers" movie.

This animated movie is a great fusion of east and west. Hollywood blockbuster's great storytelling, along with Japanese Animation's great dedication to graphics and art.

In summary if you have watched, and liked, the first "Starship Troopers" movie, you HAVE to watch this animated movie. Forget about the abysmal starship troopers 2 and 3 movies. This animated movie is the TRUE sequel to "Starship Troopers"

Boobies, two horny soldiers fucking like rabbits, despite being complete strangers, then blood is spilled everywhere. The movie tries so hard to keep the audience engaged that you can't help but notice how weak the story is by the end. But who cares about that when there are boobies to focus on, am I right?

This movie is a prime example of mindless action. You don't need to pay attention because the focus is solely on action and cheap shocking scenes. If you're familiar with American horror movies, you'll recognise all the cliches that this movie shamelessly borrows from. It's like a teenager's fever dream, complete ... with nudity and sex.

The story is as bland as a piece of bread without butter. It revolves around a failed experiment with some big-ass insects that nobody knows where they came from. The soldiers must rescue passengers on a ship, fight the bugs, and eventually everyone kills each other until the end. Yawn.

The characters are as generic as a box of tissues. We have a horny man who's blinded by love, a blonde seductress who's only there for fan service, the virgin comic relief who complains about his lack of sex life, a timid coward nice guy, a scientist asshole. Oh, and of course, the serious badass white hero you see in every retro American horror-action movie. The only passable character is Tia Durer (or Trig), because she actually shows emotions and has goals that were story relevant making her stand out from the rest of the characters. The movie could have been so much better if she were the main character.

I appreciate the art, but I can`t say the same for the disgusting green blood, and the soundtracks, including the catchy credit song, were so forgettable that it`s like a distant memory.

Overall, don't expect a riveting story or well-developed characters from this movie. However, if you're in the mood for some mindless action and some boobies and booties, then this movie is worth a watch. You could treat it as a guilty pleasure at best.

As a fan of the franchise set forth by the 1997 cult classic, Starhip Stroopers, I am fairly pleased by this new animated adventure despite its gross shortcomings.

Let's be frank, this movie is fan service for anyone who likes the franchise. As such, it does a decent job at giving fans a fun, visually appealing action ride. Alone, this movie belongs well at the bottom of the B-movie list.

THE STORY follows a group of troopers who get caught up in a mystery involving a missing starship, a secret experiment, and of course, bugs. The plot is very basic and serves to lay down ... a framework for the action to make sense. While I did not watch this film for the story, I will say that because the basic outline is so solid, I was actually disappointed by its failure to develop. There is a very interesting premise that I believe could have been explored deeper, but woefully it was not. Instead, the movie opts for cheap, no-brainer cliche storytelling and even worse dialogue to drag itself forward. I believe that if they had spent the money on the writing instead of the truly pointless nude scenes, this would have had a decent story. At least the pacing keeps you interested. Fans of the original 1997 movie will get the most from this film as there are several nods to the source film.

THE ART is purely computer generated. While it's certainly not on the caliber of Pixar or Dreamworks it is certainly better than what I usually come out of Japan. In particular, the starship, space craft, and set designs are truly epic, and the effects are very well done. The characters all look too similar to each other (except for the females) and their animations are rather stiff. Still, the art is overall very good.

THE SOUND is a lot better than I expected. The version I saw was in English (I believe that is the original language of the film), and the voice acting was pretty good. The only shame is that the actual dialogue is pretty dumb, cliche, and hammy. The sound effects are good, and the music is definitely nostalgic as the theme from the 1997 film is definitely audible.

THE CHARACTERS are shallow and bland. There are really too many to be introduced and thoroughly explored in the span of the film, but it does not excuse the fact that whatever semblance of personality they have was merely written in to have some truly awful dialogue. It is a shame really because at face value, some of the characters seem interesting enough to get to know deeper, but there is no character development. Also, their fates will make the audience feel the authors are cheating.

I ENJOYED the film. It is a brainless action movie with guns, spaceships, and aliens. The film distills all the fan service you would want from a sci-fi flick into a fairly slick production. The film is certainly watchable, but don't expect much more than a cheap, but satisfying, action thrill. That said, I really think this would have worked better as a miniseries. I suppose I just feel bad that this could have been something more, something better, and a decent addition to the franchise.