Dutch director Paul Verhoeven has had great commercial success with cynical sci-fi action films. "RoboCop" (1987), "Total Recall" (1990), and now "Starship Troopers". All three films are more than a guilty pleasure. They're actually good films, although not of the kind or the quality to land any Academy Awards.
There's a great deal of action, and that's where the film takes off. Early scenes introduce our attractive young leads, their requisite romantic relationships, and their career ambitions, which reflects their extreme competitiveness. We have tomboy Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer), who is in love with gung ho Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), who is in love with brainy beauty Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards), who is in love with him, but he is too stupid to join her in flight school. But Rico is not as stupid as Ace Levy (Jake Busey), and Carmen is not as smart as scientist Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris). There are also various supporting characters, mostly of the jarhead variety. It is difficult to think of these characters as people rather than cartoons. But at least they're great to look at, although it is odd that the people of Buenos Aires, Argentina seem more like they're from Beverly Hills, California.
"Starship Troopers" takes Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 novel and liberally adapts it for the screen. The young heroes and heroines were cast for their looks, although acting is not the point here. The script is too much of a satire for that. Verhoeven's main target is the military mindset, covering recruiting, training, propaganda and warmongering. He has created a revisionist future that is nearly an alternate universe. The characters may look like people, but are mostly removed from all emotions except a fearless, reckless bravado. No one really seems human at all, except for Rico's parents.
But what is lost in credibility is admittedly gained in entertainment. The gruesome, violent battles between the infantry and the giant bugs are repetitive, with all the gratuitous gore of a zombie shoot-em-up video game. They keep coming at you, and no matter how many you slaughter, another wave is underway. But it is still a thrill to see an enormous, ferocious insect slice and dice an unfortunate soldier; certainly much more so than guessing which of the two gorgeous female leads will be sleeping with Rico next.
The special effects are very good. This isn't an old Godzilla film where you spend the action scenes thinking, that's just a guy in a lizard suit. The giant bugs are clearly animated but that's okay. The hundred million dollar budget also shows in the impressive sets, especially the boot camp compound, the futurist fort on the bug planet, and the spaceship interiors.
The humor often works. My favorite bit is the government propaganda commercial, with schoolkids stomping cockroaches while their teacher beams with pride. It's this edgy attitude, extending to the shameless ultraviolence of the action scenes, which makes "Starship Troopers" well worth seeing. (69/100)
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