The latest Starship Troopers movie is an animated feature and is fourth in the series. It however has nothing to do with the awesome animated series but it brings together the main characters from the first movie: Carl Jenkins, Johnny Rico and Carmen Ibanez.
Rico is now a general while Carl is the Minister of Paranormal Warfare. Carmen seems to get the short end of the stick here as she’s still just a captain of a starship, this time it’s the John A. Warden. The starship was assigned to evacuate the folks at Fort Casey along with the ship Alesia, only to have Carl take command of the John A. Warden into parts unknown. Carmen, naturally wants her ship back and along with the crew of the Alesia (under orders from Rico) sets off to find it.
By this point, you’d probably had a good look at the troopers and you’d probably think you’ve seen them somewhere. If you’ve watched Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, Appleseed, Halo Legends, or even played the new Deus Ex game Human Revolution, you’d be forgiven for thinking that characters from those films/games ended up with cameo roles in Starship Troopers: Invasion.
Look-a-like character models aside, this incarnation of Starship Troopers is probably closer in spirit to the Robert A. Heinlein book. This is due to the use of powered armor, and I must say, it’s to great effect as well. The storyline is predictable and like any Japanese animated feature (it’s directed by Shinji Aramaki…guess what, he did Appleseed AND Halo Legends), it’s quite generous with fan-service.
Fans of the series would find this movie a mix bag, there’s a red herring for a main character and the fact that Carl, Johnny and Carmen do not look like Doogie Howser (I’m sorry, Neil Patrick Harris), Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards (this is totally dropping the ball) respectively, just totally sucks. Starship Troopers: Invasion gets a 3 out of 5. Recommended for a lazy Sunday afternoon rental.
