Subject: Review: Starship Troopers (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Reid Davis)
Date: 4 Nov 1997 16:52:04 GMT

By Reid Davis
Clayton News/Daily

        Before the screening I attended of "Starship Troopers,"
promotional people roamed the aisles, giving out comic books of the
movie.
        That should have been a clue.
        With a few exceptions, comic books are two-dimensional, don't
develop characters, and feature action punctuated with day-glo "blams
" and "splats."
        And "Starship Troopers" is one big comic book of a movie, a
b-movie deluxe, including everything but the "Coming Soon To TBS"
tagline.  And once the average moviegoer makes that connection, it
becomes a much more enjoyable ride.
        So what's good about the movie?  Action, visuals and special
effects.
        What's not so good?  Acting, plot and dialogue...especially
the dialogue!
        I recently read that big-budget Hollywood films are spending
much larger percentages of cash on special effects and considerably
less for big-name talent.  I suppose the thinking is that special
effects are more reliable than big-name actors as a box office draw.
Plus, special effects won't embarrass studios by political
grandstanding or having messy personal lives.
        "Starship Troopers" is a case study for this kind of approach.
I mean, what else can you say for a movie that credits nine special
effects companies, but features Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser,
M.D.) as its most recognizable star?
        While Harris, along with veteran character actor Michael
Ironside ("Top Gun," "ER,") are the most recognizable names, the first
half of the movie is carried by a cast of unknowns.  While "unknown"
definitely does not mean "cannot act," there is reason to believe that
some of these no-names were chosen for reasons other than their acting
talents.
        Take Exhibit A, Casper Van Dien.  As "Johnny Rico," the
young-man-coming-of-age whose story is central to the film, he looks
like a fresh pod grown from the Hollywood body-and-face hatchery.  His
jaw is so square, his teeth are so white and his body is so chiseled,
that the average Joe Six-pack probably will have a hard time relating
to his character, much less caring.
        Exhibit B is no better.  Denise Richards ("Carmen Ibanez")
seems slightly unreal as well, having seemingly been grown in the
silicone, airbrush and plastic surgery section of the Hollywood
hatchery.  I've seen few Barbie dolls that looked better. 
        While I have nothing against beauty, the performance of Van
Dien - whose range consists of an aw-shucks grin, steely determination
and a look of vague concern - leaves a lot to be desired.  Richardson,
while a better actor, still doesn't seem to connect with the material.
She seems to hover beautifully above it all, with only a wrinkled brow
of occasional worry.
       Of course, one even giggles using "material" to describe a
movie like this one, which is why the second half of the movie, which
commences the war between human and bug-like alien is so enjoyable.
        The first half of the film, which shows our heroes leaving the
comfortable confines of school and home and entering military service,
mostly drags.  There are occasional patches of (sometimes
unintentional) humor, but after the scene is set, the audience is
yearning to get to the action.  Unfortunately, by that point the
action is still about half an hour away. 
        Once the action arrives, however, director Paul Verhoeven
("Total Recall," "Robocop") is at his best, interposing
edge-of-your-seat battle scenes with tongue-in-cheek snippets from
futuristic recruiting videos and news bulletins that owe much to 1940s
war propaganda.
        The visuals, another of Verhoeven's special talents, are first
rate, summoning up a fully realized future world with seamingly
effortless ease.
        And the special effects, of course, cannot be faulted.  I'll
bet most folks will see this movie only because of the jaw-dropping
preview featuring thousands of marauding alien "bugs" swarming over
the hillsides.  Heck, that's what got me in the door...
        But don't expect another "Men In Black."
        While "MiB" featured the same comic-book approach, it had
zippy dialogue and a plot that you had to keep from blinking in order
to get.
        "Starship Troopers," on the other hand, is weighted down by
dumber than dumb dialogue:
        "She's down here."
        "How do you know?"
        "I just know."
        And the plot offers nothing but cliches:  "young man finds
himself and gains the respect of others...friends bonded together by
war...man wants unattainable woman and then finds his true match right
in front of his nose..."  Unlike "MiB," nothing here takes the
moviegoer by surprise.
        Is "Starship Troopers" a good movie?  If you are the kind of
person who often finds yourself watching "Movies For Guys Who Like
Movies," sure it is.
        However, if you demand a bit more from your b-list "candy,"
prepare to find yourself groaning early and often.
        Also, be wary of young ones begging to be taken to see this
film.  While the movie resembles a comic book, it also includes
copious amounts of blood and gore, as well as some completely
gratuitous nudity.
        In fact, some of the movie's best acting takes place in a
co-ed shower scene, where men and women have to pretend that taking a
shower in the same room is no big deal.  (After all, it's the
military...and the harrassment at Aberdeen Training Grounds never
happened, right?)
        So for those who must have their big-budget special effects on
a big screen, go ahead and see this.  Otherwise, wait for it at your
video store...or on TBS.