Many might not know Starship Troopers, despite being a cult classic, has a couple of less than stellar sequels. Opting for all CG approach for the fourth one, Invasion is crafted with heavy anime Japanese touch. It has so many resemblances to video game graphic, down to facial and body structures, which gives it a chance for spectacular effect. Be that as it may, the material still doesn't go beyond generic sci-fi banters.Story follows the crew of Alesia as they perform dangerous missions and uncover secret of the bugs. The graphic is good, an above average quality of CG at that time, and this different direction caters both to franchise fans and general sci-fi enthusiasts. For most part, the rendition is glossy and proportional. It presents its highest production value on gratuitous naked digital girls and gory action. It does stutter occasionally, in a few scenes the action seem rigid and facial expression is rather bland.Japanese video game screenplay is notoriously hampered with campy dialogues or over-the-top situations. Those who have played popular video game franchise such as Resident Evil will notice similar kinks on Invasion. Characters are made with stereotypical personalities and looks, a somewhat westernized army appearance for animation genre. Sexy blonde, rugged soldier and everything in between. The film attempt to give some depth to the characters, but its script just isn't up to task.It can be cringe-worthy to hear what these people say. Macho quips, overly melodramatic lines and even catchphrases are thrown with reckless abandon. Dubbing isn't that bad, they do their best with the jarring lines. Some level of knowledge of the series might be required as it lacks narrative, and even then the story barely wraps up. To its credit, the action part is presentable. A couple of high octane scenes are better than most in sci-fi genre.Starship Troopers: Invasion might not reach the same pinnacle of its original, but as a popcorn flick it provides enough chuckles and gazes for brief delight.

The film's name comes from Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 novel, Starship Troopers. A live action theatrical film of the same name was released in 1997 directed by Paul Vanderhoeven, followed by Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004, straight to video), and Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008, directed by Ed Neumeier).The book was excellent, the first movie was good, the second movie sucked rocks, and the third movie was somewhat better than the second. This Japanese movie is truer to the American novel than the 2nd or 3rd movies.The Terran Federation consists of humans who are fighting hives of giant insect colonies ruled by intelligent queens. The initial point of contention for this film is on an asteroid. On the asteroid is the Terran Fort Casey, which is under attack by a colony of Bugs.The huge warship John A. Warden is docked at Casey. The Warden has become infested. The much lighter vessel Alesia arrives for evacuation if needed. The high-ranking psychic Carl Jenkins (played by Neil Patrick Harris in the first film) has taken command from Major Hero just before the Alesia's arrival. The Mobile Infantry brought by the Alesia join with the survivors of the Warden to try to retake the Warden.Through a series of misadventures, the Alesia is lost, and the Warden is taken over by the Bug queen. The Bug-controlled Warden heads to Earth (Terra) to start infestation and eradication of humanity there. The few surviving Mobile Infantry aboard the Warden contact General Rico in orbit around Earth.Will the remnants stop the infestation? Will Carmen get another command after losing the Warden? Will Carl's treacherous actions be revealed, or will they be classified as 'research essential to the war' against the Bugs? -----Scores-----Art: 9/10 About 60 percent of the time, I thought this film looked wonderful. The other forty percent, I thought it looked fine, but the movements were a bit wooden/slow.Sound: 9/10 No problems. Loved the music in the closing credits.Voice Acting: 9/10 Just fine.Story: 7/10 The film was set as a film for adults, just as the book was and the first film was. It is animated but it is rightfully rated R, just as the first film. I do wish that more exposition had been done about the class warfare between the psychics (the entitled one tenth of one percent) versus everyone else. Perhaps the biggest positive I could say is that I would like to see another one from the same group (Japanese/Korean, not so much American) who seemed to understand the material well. The next film should be about whether Carl Jenkins' research was actually worth the betrayals that he wrought against his allies in the Navy and the Mobile Infantry.

I am a massive fan of the first real action movie so I can't help myself from grabbing these titles when ever I see them.The CGI is fairly good, not up to some of the other CGI feature length titles that have come before it, but totally watchable.I didn't really enjoy this movie but to write a fair review I think you have to consider its target audience. This is a space action romp. There is no onion to peel here; no layers of story where the viewer obtains a deeper understanding of the human condition.This is about aliens, explosions, space ships, leather cat-suit cladded action models and cartoon boobies. In that respect it does its job perfectly!The dialogue is cheesy, the characters are so full of testosterone each is a whisper away from throwing themselves on a grenade for the Republic (and lots of them do)but that is part of the fun.If you can take this at face value you will have a great evening. If you want something with depth or serious storyline then best keep walking.

Starship troopers returns with much more faith to the novel.Humanity is still fighting their war against overwhelming swarms of the bugs or "Pseudo-Arachnids, battling them in Exo-powered suits and other feat of military technological advancement much as what Robert Heinleins describe in his book. Fans and those who have seen the past films will appreciate and enjoy a generous face lift of the Starship troopers universe in CGI than its live-action predecessors, with the return of their favorite characters since the 1997 film. However this film may cause confusion to those who haven't read the book and watched the past films or the Starship Troopers: Roughneck TV show. With their lack of understanding of the film or the Starship troopers universe, they may not like the weak story and some what a cliff-hanger ending but this was designed to open the audience to a possible sequel to which most fans anticipate.Verdict: Fans will enjoy this film while non-fans you might want to get acquainted with the Starship Troopers first. I am happy this film did good for the Starhip Troopers universe and waiting for the sequel.