Starship Troopers
Chad'z rating: ** (out of 4 = fair)
1997, R, 130 minutes [2 hours, 10 minutes]
[science fiction]
starring: Casper Van Dien (Johnny Rico), Dina Meyer (Dizzy Flores), Denise Richards (Carmen Ibanez), Jake Busey (Ace Levy); written by Edward Neumeier; produced by Jon Davison, Alan Marshalll; directed by Paul Verhoeven, based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein.
Seen Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1997 at 7 p.m. at the Glenwood Movieplex Cinemas in Oneida, N.Y. - theater #1 by myself for free (press pass). (theater rating: *** - good seats, decent sound, slightly dark picture, though)
The mistake many "blockbuster popcorn" movies have made in the last few years is not incorporating a level of satire to make them lighthearted enough to enjoy. "Starship Troopers" tries to have it both ways by establishing a sense of satire which is quite clever, but is ultimately just a poor "disclaimer" for the ridiculous plot and exhausting action.
Like many of his science fiction films, director Paul Verhoeven starts out on the right foot here by establishing a futuristic and believable image of the future. Much like "Nineteen Eighty-Four," etc., there seems to be a one world government here. But this is an optimistic future with advanced technology and the people here are general happy, although in a brainwashed sort of way.
The main characters are mostly kids in their late teens who are all in love with each other but still have a sense of blind loyalty to the government. Most of the actors are veterans of such shows as "Beverly Hills 90210," and "Melrose Place." Some of them include: Johnny Rico (Van Dien) - the suave jock who's in love with Carmen Ibanez (Richards) - the always smiling smart girl who's friends with Dizzy Flores (Meyer) - the girl that constantly throws herself at Johnny. There's many other silly characters like these who create for even sillier, and often annoying sub-plots. Initially, all this keeps with the satirical atmosphere, but once the ball gets rolling and the action kicks in, this becomes one of the film's biggest problems.
It's hard to tell exactly where the film is headed given the nature of the first act. There are constant news updates spewing forth rhetoric about the "evil bugs" on the other side of the galaxy that supposedly present some kind of threat to Earth. We know the teens will somehow become involved in the war against the bugs, but the film really takes its time in transitioning the plot.
It's not surprising all the characters join "The Federation," and are separated in the process. The boot camp scenes are pretty generic, except for the futuristic mentality where no one seems to notice the difference between the sexes. The men and women not only physically fight each other, but shower and sleep together! That's an original idea, but there's not nearly enough detail explaining how this mentality is rationalized in this society. Questions like these crop up throughout the film which are never answered and only serve to create more plot holes and flaws.
But the film's biggest problem is the question it never answers: why are they going to fight giant bugs on another planet? Perhaps the lack of an answer is intended to keep with the satirical nature, but once the troopers head out to fight the bugs, all the sense of satire is lost and the film becomes pure action.
We're supposed to be more concerned with the characters and their survival than we are with their mission, but everything that happens is just stupidity. Johnny and his fellow troopers are dropped off on the alien planet and start firing their machine guns at hundreds of the giant bugs. It's just one long battle scene of humans versus aliens, and of course they don't win at first. And why would they? It's the distant future and they're still using machine guns? Why don't they attack with tanks, or at least with grenades and lasers (they have the technology)? One scene shows planes dropping bombs that kill the bugs - couldn't they have just done that to begin with? It's really difficult to take the combat scenes seriously when considering these things.
This is pretty much all that happens throughout the second half of the film - just scene after scene of troopers fighting bugs on foot, even though they are outnumbered. Not surprisingly, all the main characters have a brush with death in one way or another, and this is done through such corny, sappy storytelling methods it's unbearable. Plus the fact that almost none of the characters are likable to begin with, so there's no element of suspense either. By the time the ending rolls around, almost nothing is accomplished nor resolved, and you really have to wonder what the point to anything and everything was.
I'm not sure what "Starship Troopers" really intends to be. It could have worked as a satire had it stuck with the genre throughout, but the action is just mindless and overwhelming. What a waste of a story.
e-mail: ChadPolenz@aol.com (C) 1997 Chad Polenz
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