Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

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.

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.

Essentially the films basic plot was a very good idea with the return of our hero Rico and the return to the original story line. It provides answers to questions we were left with from the original film and grants some closure for the viewers. This was all dwarfed by a single overwhelming flaw, about half way through the film it suddenly takes a drastic turn, the plot gets lost to some kind of religious fanatical-ism. I'm not sure if the writer is a religious fanatic but it certainly seems that way. I can see how religion is relevant to the story but it goes way beyond just adding to the story line and delves into shameless advertising for the church. As with most films that focus on religion from America it becomes a preaching advertisement to recruit people to an outdated cause. If i wanted religion i would go look for it. There is no need to ruin films by using it to push religion on people. All in all the film had the potential to be an excellent sequel but it got seriously lost somewhere along the lines and ended up becoming yet another load of rubbish. Simply, if you don't mind religion being preached at you for an hour then watch it but if you are like me and like your films to be about a good story and not feel like an advert then most definitely steer clear of this film.

This movie and Starship Troopers followed the book very closely. However in the book Rico's parents were killed in the first movie. In the book Rico's father lived and joined the mobile infantry to help fight the bugs. The term see you on the bounce in marauder is used throughout the book. I know certain reviewers were very critical about the script and the actors and stated they just scraped off them off the street. Some questioned why others from the original movie were not in marauder. Well dizzy got killed off, Zim was doing highlander and Carmen Ibanez was a bond girl playing Dr. Christmas Jones with Pierce Brosnan. The actors in marauder are professional and the script was more than adequate. Some people were turned off by the religious aspect of the movie. But how else can you explain Anoke's relationship with the bugs and the brain bug from planet p.