Review of Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008) by Michael W — 17 Aug 2008

Unsubtle in the ways Dr. Strangelove and Wag the Dog are unsubtle, Starship Troopers: Marauder is another hilarious send-up of fine jingoism. Did I just draw a line from Stanley Kubrick to Starship Troopers 3, a made-for-DVD threequel? "Maybe he's not feeling well," you're telling yourself. No, I'm feeling fine, and this movie really is good.

I bring up the point about being unsubtle because several reviews I've read point specifically to that lack of subtly being one of the film's problems. Somehow they "got" the first movie where many mainstream critics didn't, and this film. . . well, it's just too easy to "get." When did watching a film become an easter egg hunt, and the best films are the ones only a few find great golden eggs in. This contrarian crap gets old after a while. And here I am being contrarian about Starship Troopers 3. Hypocrite am I.

But enough of that, trooper, I know what you really want to know. Can a direct-to-dvd movie with a small budget ($20 million - pocket change) deliver the action goods? Honestly, I'm surprised to tell you that it does. The effects, of course, aren't as convincing as anything that's going to be released in theaters. Neumeir seems to know this and makes up for it with a more visceral approach to action, which really just means impalings, lots and lots of impalings. And exploding heads. Dismemberment at a grand scale. Papa Verhoeven should be proud.

I guess it's obvious at this point: I'm a sucker for this film. Tune your brain wavelength to my brain wavelength, and enjoy, trooper. It's a good day to buy. . . or rent.