Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that has never been to Idaho, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number eighty-seven, I take a look at the second sequel to the greatest movie ever made, 2008's "Starship Troopers 3: Marauder," starring Johnny Rico himself Casper van Dien and directed by series scripter and first time director Edward Neumeier.
"Starship Troopers 3: Marauder" (2008)
"Starship Troopers 3: Marauder," while a very low budget movie compared to the Paul Verhoeven directed 1997 masterpiece, is more in line with that movie than the Phil Tippett directed "Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation," which came out in 2004. And because of that closeness in tone to the first movie, part 3 is an enjoyable bit of low budget sci-fi B-movie fun, not to mention potent bit of social satire (that isn't to say that part 2 isn't a good movie because it is. It works on its own terms. But "Marauder" is just a better overall movie when you compare the two). The movie tends to get a little slow and shaky in the middle and it's probably about ten minutes too long, but, again, it's a pretty dang decent movie.
"Marauder" starts off with Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), now a colonel in the Mobile Infantry, stationed on the planet Roku San, a distant Federation colony that is under siege by the dastardly bug enemy in what is called the "Second Bug War ". The old arachnid bug monsters (which actually look pretty good here) are joined by giant scorpion like bugs that shoot goo out of their tails and a small ball bug that launches itself into the air, lands, opens itself up, and then causes a explosion (a bug bomb, if you will, or an arachnid grenade). The bugs are trying to find a way inside the Federation areas (the Federation has basically fenced off all human settlements with electrified fencing) and colonize the planet for themselves. Meanwhile, the original human settlers, farmers by trade, are upset by the massive Federation presence and blame the Federation for the bug problem (Roku San didn't have a bug problem until the Mobile Infantry set up shop). Rico, the hero of Planet P, is only concerned with two things: killing bugs and keeping the peace. He suddenly has to become concerned with three things as the wickedly famous Sky Marshal Omar Anoke (Stephen Hogan) is set to arrive at Roku San for both a personal appearance and to see what the conditions are like up close on Roku San.
"Personal appearance?" Yes, you see Sky Marshal Anoke is not only a high ranking official in the Federation, he's also a pop singing sensation, with the song "It's a Good Day to Die" the most popular song in the Federation, especially among the citizens. Anoke wants to help build up morale among the troops and put a good face on the Federation, which is increasingly becoming unpopular among the non-citizen population (there's also a large anti-war citizen presence within the Federation that is undermining overall support for the war against the Bugs, at least that's what the Federation claims). Traveling with the Sky Marshal is General Dix Hauser (Boris Kodjoe) and Captain Lola Beck (Jolene Blalock), old friends of Rico's. While catching up on old times, Rico tries to prevent his old pal Dix from starting a fight with the local Roku San population (Dix can't understand why the farmers don't join the fight and do their part and warns them all that speaking out against the war effort is a capital offense punishable in most cases by death). Dix, pissed off that he got his ass kicked by a bunch of drunken farmers, wants the seditious farmers arrested, an order Rico refuses to comply with. This leads to Rico's arrest for dereliction of duty and refusing to follow a direct order from a superior officer. But before Rico can be placed in the Roku San brig, the bugs break through the fence.
A massive battle ensues. Bugs kill MI troopers and MI troopers kill plenty of bugs. When the skirmish ends, the Sky Marshal is missing, along with Captain Beck (Beck took the Sky Marshal off the planet, but the ship went down on the planet OM-1 after being attacked by a barrage of bug plasma in space). The base's wall breach is blamed on Rico and he is called an incompetent traitor and sentenced to death by hanging. But the general public isn't aware of the Sky Marshal's disappearance. Under the guidance of the nefarious Admiral Enolo Phid (Amanda Donohoe), the Federation has decided to use Anoke's disappearance to concoct a story about war protestors engaging in violent acts against the state. They will try to find the missing official, sure, but it's a great opportunity to try to build up support against the war peace movement. But who the heck is going to rescue the Sky Marshal?
Just as he's about to be hanged, Rico's life is spared by the admiral, Dix, and the Federation Intelligence agency as Rico the traitor suddenly now has a new usefulness. Rico has been picked to lead an assault and engage in a rescue mission on OM-1 with the help of a new weapons system called the Marauder, which is a Robotech like cybernetic armored war suit. With a team of his choosing, Rico will lead an assault and rescue mission on OM-1 to, hopefully, rescue the Sky Marshal and kill a bunch of bugs.
If only things were as simple and true as they appear to be. You see, not all is right with the Sky Marshal. Something is up with him. There's also something going on with the Admiral and others within the Federation hierarchy. Just what the heck is really going on?
For all of its problems, finding out what is really going on with the Federation is what helps make "Marauder" such a great flick. It's the kind of resolution that's just so dang perfect and hilarious and maddening all at the same time that you want to thank Neumeier personally for such a kick ass ending. I know I smiled at the ending. I also smiled at how the movie deals with the idea of religion and how it's used by the state to get people to do what it wants. At the beginning of the movie, religion in general has basically been outlawed by the Federation because it's a major part of the anti-war movement. By the end of the movie, the Federation's view of religion changes dramatically (the Fed Net sequence featuring the character Holly Little, as played by Marnette Patterson, is one of the best Fed Net segments in the movie. It'll make you laugh and laugh hard). It's probably a good idea that the movie just got a DVD release as I'm sure the religious commentary would have been removed from the script so as to avoid offending the audience. I've noticed that people have no problem with moviemakers going after "the government," but they have a big problem with "attacks" on religion. If you make religious people look foolish Bill O'Reilly will do a Talking Points Memo about you and you just don't want that to happen. But if the movie is small and advertised to a small niche audience it's not that big of a deal because not as much is at stake (but, had Verhoeven done the movie as a theatrical release the religious stuff would definitely have been in the movie. That's just the way he rolls).
The Fed Net sequences, by and large, are well done and always ridiculously funny. The announcer, the voice of Corey Burton, is perfect. The action sequences are also pretty decent. The battle on Roku San could have used some trimming, but it's chock full of carnage that's fun to watch. The bits on OM-1, which is a desert planet, are beautiful to just look at. The CG effects are, by and large, well done. The movie doesn't look as good as the first one, but Neumeier makes the most out of what he has to play with. Again, the bugs looks decent enough (even the wicked cheap looking scorpion bugs look good, and you only see their tails). The Marauder sequences are fun but definitely would have been better with a little more money (if there's a part 4 I'd imagine we'd get to see of the Marauder machines in action. I want to see a Marauder take on a Tanker bug. That would be dang cool).
Casper Van Dien is once again excellent as Johnny Rico. He's the ultimate grunt fighter, the quintessential hero and the kind of guy you need to fight wars. He's loyal through and through. But he's not stupid. He has a mind and a personal code, shaped by his belief in the Federation and its ideals, which cannot be violated (hence his questioning Dix's annoyance with the farmers on Roku San. It's more important to fight the Bugs than to attack the farmers. That's what citizens do. Sgt Rasczak would be so damn proud). Boris Kodjoe is the ultimate douchebag as General Dix Hauser. Dix is a paper pusher that has never really been in combat and is a total nerd when it comes to the letter of the law (he certainly doesn't believe in following the spirit of the law, hence his problem with the farmers on Roku San. They're not doing what he wants them to do, so they're traitors). I don't know if Dix ever grows a conscience, but it's nice to know that, by the end of the movie, he's not as big a douchebag as at the beginning. And Jolene Blalock is decent as Captain Beck. She's one of the saddest characters in the movie because she's totally brainwashed by duty and loyalty to the Federation, even when it's apparent those things are not all they're cracked up to be. Her interactions with religious fanatic Holly Little (Marnette Patterson) are brilliant because, by the end of the movie, you see that they both really do believe in the same things.
Amanda Donohoe is pretty decent as Admiral Phid. She's a mean and nasty bastard, sure, but she's also the kind of government official you'd find in any kind of government regardless of ideology. She's a lifer that spends most of her time trying to engineer her own career to the very top. She really doesn't care about anything but her career. Stephen Hogan is brilliant as Sky Marshal Anoke, as he gives the psychic pop singer/high government official a kind of cheerful aloofness and charisma that makes you, at first, question how the hell he managed to rise so high in the Federation, but then it becomes obvious quickly how he managed to do it (he's a bullshit artist). Great, great stuff.
There are some great supporting performances by people like Stelio Savante (he plays the flight engineer Chief Bull Brittles, who ends up on OM-1 and falls in love with Holly Little), Danny Keogh (the old ship's medic Dr. Wiggs), and Cokey Falkow (who plays the nervous cook Jingo Ryan, a man that has no business out in the field. He's a damn cook for God's sake. He's not Casey Ryback). But the best supporting performance probably comes from Cecile Breccia, who plays Lt. Link Manion. She's hot, she has charisma, a sexy accent, and a very, very, very nice rack (there's a bit of co-ed nudity here, just like in the first flick. Cecile Breccia is, well, very well put together).
"Starship Troopers 3: Marauder" is definitely worth seeing. It's a very cool, very fun B-movie with a wonderfully subversive social message that, hopefully, people get. Neumeier has done a great job with his first effort as a director, and I for one can't wait for a fourth adventure. The War against the Bugs could, and should, go on forever.
See "Starship Troopers 3: Marauder." See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here? Gratuitous rousing low budget opening titles music, gratuitous fascistic propaganda masquerading as news, exploding bugs, gratuitous bit about shovels, death to war protestors, gratuitous attack on religion, gratuitous propaganda pop song, trench digging, shovel to the back, gratuitous Casper Van Dien, a severed arm, gratuitous electrified fence, a very gross liquid drink that comes out of a bar tap, gratuitous public executions on television, a bug attack, off screen decapitation, more exploding bugs, on screen decapitation, some nasty throat slitting, an explosive shockwave, exploding bunker, gratuitous guy throwing himself on an exploding bug and then exploding, warp speed, a flaming skull cap, a great man on fire gag, gratuitous attack on war veterans, gratuitous brain bug, a massive bomb, gratuitous cybernetic armor weaponry, blasphemy, earthquake hooey, co-ed nudity, exploding face, a religious revelation, a bug leg through the chest, burned human bodies, robot attack, flamethrower hooey, a massive funeral, and a hilarious ending.
Best lines: "Would you like to know more?," "Pick that arm up and find out who it belongs to," "Stupid bugs," "Farmers," "Sorry, Chief, already married," "Why is it that no one in the outer colonies wants to fight?," "Ask him for an autograph, Lt. Manion, and I will have you shot," "Hey! It's hanging time!," "There it is. Justice," "Colonel Rico, you are out of order," "I'll see you at my court martial," "You know what to do! Get in there and kill them all!," "Fucking bugs! I hate them!," "What's cooking, Jingo?," "Well, sir, everyone loves victory," "You are really getting on my nerves," "Do you think we're being protected by a higher power?," "So this is the big wow?," "You shouldn't talk like that, Lt. It's blasphemy," "And where's your God now?," "What are you people talking about? This war is never going to end," "I guess that's why his momma called him ‘Slug,'" "Faith is more powerful than a Q bomb," "He thinks God is a Bug?," "Bug religion? That's blasphemy!," "It's the wrong God!," "Fire in the hole!," "Alright, let's go crack a planet," "Sure, he's gone, but he left us a song," "Fuck the Federation!," "See you on the bounce, Trooper," and "Service guarantees citizenship!"
Rating: 9.5/10.0
"Come on, you apes, you want to live forever!"
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And now, a little bit about "Live Evil"
"Live Evil," the great new Tim Thomerson vampire flick (also featuring an appearance by horror legend Ken Foree) is now on Video on Demand. Check out my review for the flick here, and then, if it's on your cable system, order it. It's a great flick that's well worth the charge.
The flick now also has a firm DVD release date. According to its MySpace page, "Live Evil" will hit DVD February 23rd, 2010. That's only a few short months away, so remember that date, and be sure to keep an eye on the MySpace page and the flick's new Facebook page for further updates/developments.
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Well, I think that'll be about it for this issue. B-movies rule, always remember that. And if there's anything you want to see reviewed here in this column, feel free to offer a comment below or send me an e-mail. I'm always on the lookout for new stuff to watch.
And don't forget to bookmark 411 via the little line below. You'll be glad you did.
"Starship Troopers 3: Marauder"
Casper Van Dien- Colonel Johnny Rico Jolene Blalock- Captain Lola Beck Boris Kodjoe- General Dix Hauser Stephen Hogan- Sky Marshal Omar Anoke Amanda Donohoe- Admiral Enolo Phid Marnette Patterson- Holly Little Cecile Breccia- Lt. Link Manion Danny Keogh- Dr. Wiggs Stelio Savante- Chief Bull Brittles Cokey Falkow- Jingo Ryan Corey Burton- Fed Net voice
Directed by Edward Neumeier Screenplay by Edward Neumeier, based on the book Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated R for violence, language and some nudity Runtime- 105 minutes
