Starship Troopers

Based on the book by Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers likely marks director Paul Verhoeven’s most gleefully over-the-top effort to date – as the movie, which is as unapologetically violent as anything within his filmography, boasts a tongue-in-cheek, downright campy sensibility that ultimately pervades every aspect of the proceedings. The film, set hundreds of years from now, follows a group of young people – including Casper Van Dien’s Johnny Rico, Denise Richards’ Carmen Ibanez, and Dina Meyer’s Dizzy Flores – as they enlist in the military and subsequently find themselves caught up in a full-scale war against vicious extra-terrestrial lifeforms. Verhoeven immediately establishes an off-kilter mood by emphasizing the trashy exploits of the central characters, as the trio – essentially developed to the extent of their most outward attributes – must overcome a sordid love triangle that’s complicated by Carmen’s crush on a superior officer (Patrick Muldoon’s Zander Barcalow). Edward Neumeier’s teen-drama modus operandi undoubtedly proves effective in infusing Starship Troopers with an almost aggressively pulpy atmosphere, yet – as one has come to anticipate from a Verhoeven vehicle – there’s a brutality within the film’s various action sequences that certainly jolts the viewer out of their 90210-esque reverie. And while the movie does contain all of the beats and plot twists that generally accompany war-centric endeavors, Verhoeven and Neumeier effortlessly breathe new life into even the most familiar of interludes – with the surprisingly engaging stretch set within a prototypical boot camp certainly the most obvious example of this (something that’s due in no small part to Clancy Brown’s hilarious turn as the recruits’ tough-as-nails drill sergeant). The 129-minute running time proves to be somewhat excessive, however, and there’s perhaps more of a lull between the training scenes and the inevitable attack than one might’ve preferred. Still, Starship Troopers primarily comes off as an engaging and periodically enthralling piece of work that can’t help but look a whole lot better when compared to its lackluster sequels.

*** out of ****