Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008)

Wow! Such a good movie.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

After a sequel that features no established characters we now get the return of Johnny Rico, hero of the original film. He is now a colonel in charge of an outpost on a farming planet which is threatened by bugs. Old friends Captain Lola Beck and General Dix Hauser visit the outpost along with Sky Marshal Omar Anoke; this spells trouble for Rico; first Hauser tries to have him arrested them following a bug attack which leads to the loss of the outpost he is blamed and sentenced to hang! As the Sky Marshal's ship departs it is damaged and ends up crashing on a bug planet; he along with Captain Beck and handful of other survivors try to contact the fleet but back at headquarters Admiral Enolo Phid tries to suppress this request. When Hauser learns of this he suspects the admiral is attempting to take the sky marshal's position so sets about arranging a rescue mission; to this end Rico is spared from the noose.After a second film that felt more like a horror film this returns to the style of the first film with more battles and the more obvious humour of the various news reports. More importantly it sees the return of Casper Van Dien as Rico; it also took a little more time introducing the new characters; most notably Captain Beck who is possibly more important to the story than Rico. She is played by Jolene Blalock who does a fine job in the role. The rest of the cast are pretty solid too. The story is more than just a 'battle against the bugs' and there are a few twists before the film ends. These twists are pretty good and don't feel forced just to have a twist. The South African locations provide an impressive setting for the bug planet where Beck and the others are marooned. On the down side the lack of budget shows with some of the weaker special effects; unfortunately this includes the explosive finale which should have been spectacular but instead was obvious CGI. Overall I rather enjoyed this; plenty of action; good characters and less than subtle satire.

Casper Van Dien must have been offered plenty of loot to reprise his role as John Rico from Starship Troopers. He's now in the officer ranks and still a role model for the infantry troopers fighting the arachnid invasion.Starship Trooper 3: Marauder finds things have changed in the Federation and on the arachnid side. The original one ended with the capture of a giant brain bug as it became obvious those bugs definitely were using some kind of military strategy. But it's only the tip of the iceberg so to say.Rico is in a nice jackpot as he's blamed for a huge battle loss and scheduled to be hung. But he has friends in high places and they need him for a rescue mission of a sky admiral.There's also a growing peace movement that gets kind of violent as peace movements sometimes can. As for the rest all I can say is the bugs are learning quite a bit about what makes humankind tick.Van Dien is still as heroic as ever as John Rico, perhaps a bit wiser with age. None of the others who played characters who survived reappear in this. Might have made for greater continuity if they had.Unlike the first sequel the second paid a bit more attention to the society that formed because of the bug invasion and some of the inevitable flaws in a militarist based society. It's also got a lot of good action.Nowhere a patch on the original but far better than number 2.

I am a massive fan of the original and this movie riffs on the satirical themes. This is a watered down version, with neither tension nor shock yet, inexplicably, it works. It was great fun on a comedy level. I can't help liking the movie, it is good natured fun. The movie is cheesy, which helps to emphasise how easily the original could have failed in the hands of a lesser director. In a world of bland, generic, wannabe kool Hollywood blockbusters for retarded teens, this movie is ray of sunshine in a soulless Hollywood movie world. Acting: so-so / CGI: unconvincing / Monsters: poor / Movie: fun! Throw in some sassy communal nudity to offend the saddo prudes and movie is complete. As an atheist I was impressed how well done the religion was, the actress did amazingly well to come over as so likable as a religious nutjob.

You cant be buying/downloading/watching a Direct to DVD movie and expect theatrical standard production values.If your looking for a hidden gem STOP now and look elsewhere, this isn't one of those rare cult classics that was somehow overlooked for box-office glory.Yes the special effects are campy and frankly I cant get the obsession with CGI when most times old school animatronics/props and special effect tricks do a much better job than computers especially on a budget.But still I suspect that besides wasting the potential of an obviously talented brick and mortar special effects team, the movie has below par special effects even for DTD standards.The story is frankly brilliant, filled with satire , dark/slapstick/dry humour, multiple themes and deliberately campy dialogues.And most of the actors have done justice to the script, including the supporting cast and extras, the only ones raising doubts were Jolene Balock who just wasn't in it, or just isn't talented enough.The only thing really lacking script wise is some genuine dark/ depressing moments, which could have allowed us to be genuine elated in others.I cant emphasise how much of a better movie this would have been if it would have made the paradigm shift from CGI to old school special effects.In the end its the depiction dysfunctional military future that's the real winner. And the cast has done justice to it.Genuine Campy B-Movie Entertainment.-s emphasis on CGI.+/-s no real dark moments, why nudity without titillation.+s Genuine effort from cast and crew, THE PREMISE/SCRIPT.