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They will sell five executives homes to finance a shitty remake of Prom Night, possibly even price-tag their own mothers to get another Resident Evil
movie off the ground (look for some old bats for sale come 2009, I hear
the studio is keen to reanimate that Milla Jovovich series).... yet
they are only willing to give the makers of the groundbreaking 90s fave
Starship Troopers a few bucks and food stamps to make a sequel?
Makes about as much sense as hiring a hunky stripper for Jodie Foster's
40th birthday. Someone needs to check the water over there at Sony – me
thinks it's tainted.
If there is anything wrong with Starship Troopers: Marauder
(and there isn't much wrong with it, not as far as the performances and
the script goes anyway) it's Sony itself. It's in no way the fault of
the filmmakers: the direction is great, the script is tight, the acting
(Casper Van Dien is Johnny Rico again!) is on par with the first film,
and the tone is pitch-perfect (a welcome mesh of spoofery and black
humour).
But why blame Sony? I can see the meeting now....
Exec #1: "Starship Troopers? Wasn't that like ten years ago now?"
Exec #2: "Hmm. Yeah. Old enough to just remake it! Let's see what Orlando Bloom's doing!"
Director - Ed Neumeier: "No, please, No! We think the audience would much rather see a straight-up sequel to the first film. We really do"
Exec #1: "With who in it? Casper Van Dien? The chick-with-the-tits from the reality series?"
Director - Ed Neumeier:
"Yes, Casper Van Dien would be in it. And we'd return the series to
it's roots – a real piss-take of the political climate and so on. Paul
would approve, too. I know it!"
Exec #2:
"Tell you what. We'll give you $140 million to remake the first film –
get Brett Ratner to direct, Bloom and Jessica Biel to star – or, er,
whatever I've got in my pocket, to do this sequel of yours. With Casper"
The
main problem with the film (and I know a lot of direct-to-video sequels
suffer from the same issues, but this one didn't have to, not with the
following this series has) is that it feels, well, too small. Not even
half-as-epic as the first film.
That's either because there
was not enough money to "open up the canvas" of the film, or because
the effects budget had been slashed significantly in the development
phase. Both don't help matters. With the bugs looking like left-over
props from a lesser-budgeted indie film (OK, they're not that bad – but
they definitely needed work) and the shooting locale seemingly
restricted to the one quadrangle, it slightly deters enjoyment of the
film.
And though it doesn't matter too much, it would seem
that the character of Dix Hauser was a late addition – possibly the
result of Neil Patrick Harris turning down the chance to reprise his
character from the original?.
As I said though, that's about the only thing that doesn't work about the movie - how small it feels.
Everyone
and everything else have done their best here - they have dripped sweat
in trying to give fans what they needed (and didn't get last time
around). Ed Neumeier has returned the franchise to its comic-y roots…
serving up plenty of humorous gags, lots of (sometimes not so dazzling)
action, and a tone that was sorely missed in the last direct-to-video
sequel.
The best element of the film though is Casper Van Dien
– returning (he skipped the last one) as the hero of the original film,
Johnny Rico. It's clear that Van Dien has a love for this series,
because he's giving it his all – he delivers his lines with passion and
oomph ("Come on you apes, you wanna live forever?!"),
throws himself (literally) into the battle scenes, and generally gets
about like an excited kid in a playground. He makes the movie. Van Dien
doesn't get enough credit - he really is a good little actor. He has
the makings of an action hero. Love this guy.
I generally had a
good time with this film – you could tell that everyone behind and in
front of the camera was having the time of their life, but more so,
determined to give fans of the series the Starship Troopers sequel they should have been given the first-time around. And, for the most part, they succeeded.
Marauder reminded me a lot of the pilot for the Blade TV series – which I enjoyed - mainly in its execution. Like [the theatrically released] Blade Trinity, the second Starship Troopers film totally missed the point – and sorely lacked the fun factor – but with this one (and the Blade series), even with less money to throw around, there is a much more engaging tale in tow.
Seems
like everyone involved knew that they were really lacking the funds so
put even more effort into making sure they had a strong storyline and
some wonderful actors.
With so much going right for the film,
it's just a pity Sony couldn't have (many studios, when they see an
early cut of the film, and are generally pleased with what they see,
throw more money at the filmmakers to improve it) offered up a few more
bucks to brush up those effects and pay for some re-shoots. They could
have cut in some nice epic scenes that would make it feel less like a
"Could've-been-great" and more like a "This-is-great".
Oh well… (maybe they'll give them more dough for the next one?!) DVD EXTRAS
A whole bunch of extras here which is superb to see. There is the manditory "Evolution: The Bugs of Starship Troopers 3: Marauder" featurette, as well as the "Enlist: Marauder's Mobile Infantry" featurette.
Of
course there is a Filmmaker Commentary and Director & Cast
Commentary thrown in, plus an Extended version of the music video It's a Good Day to Die. All in all - pretty good package!
Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 65%
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