STARSHIP TROOPERS was a great, silly, fun romp of a movie with a sense of humour that you either got and loved the film or that you didn't and thought it was a pile of pants. The two live-action sequels failed to live up to that original, taking the premise far too seriously for their own good or being a pale imitation respectively.

Now we have STARSHIP TROOPERS:INVASION a Japanese/US co-production CGI animated movie. Considering that there was extensive CGI used to create the bugs in the earlier films then this might have been the obvious way for the franchise to go (especially after the Roughnecks animated show), but unfortunately the budget clearly wasn't up to the task. None of the returning characters even remotely resemble the actors who first played them, even when the actors are themselves voicing them. Worse still, the bugs are that were so impressive in the original here jerk around like someone forgot to animate all of their legs. The arachnid queen is deeply unimpressive. The spaceships and explosions come off better, but the whole thing looks cheap and underfunded.

The new characters are each given an introduction, but are so univolving that you forget who they are and then they are encased in power suits that all look exactly alike. When the dying starts it is impossible to care, no matter how many leering shots of naked CGI babes there are.

None of which would have mattered with a good story or a great script, but neither of these is up to snuff either. At one point the plot requires a huge weaponised space platform to not be able to hit an equally huge space cruiser travelling slowly in a straight line.

Fans of the franchise might find something here to enjoy and at least it doesn't hang around too long, but for the casual viewer it's a less than so-so space adventure.

Both Blu Ray and DVD formats are released on 27th August 2012.

Special Features

Commentary Gag Reel 11 featurettes on the making of the film. Concept Art (Blu Ray Only)