Director: Shinji Aramaki, Masaru Matsumoto
Writer: Edward Neumeier (Screenplay)
Starring: (Voice Talents) Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, DeRay Davis, Justin Doran, Luci Christian, Emily Neves
Plot: Federation trooper Johnny Rico is ordered to work with a group of new recruits on a satellite station on Mars, where giant bugs have decided to target their next attack.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Big Mission
Story: Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars starts as Johnny Rico finds himself needing to work with a group of new recruits on Mars, ones with no discipline, this is his punishment for letting the bugs get to Earth in Invasion. When Carl tries to get an urgent message to Johnny through Carmen, Johnny finds himself ready for another big battle on Mars.
When Amy Snapp’s plan is released, Johnny Rico must take his rookies into battle against the bugs which have infested Mars, with Snapp’s plan to destroy Mars after the colony there don’t want to fight with the Federation anymore.
Thoughts on Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars
Characters – Johnny Rico has been punished for his action letting the bugs get to Earth, demoted down to training recruits with Martian recruits who lack discipline, until he finds the bugs on Mars and must lead an assault on them to save the planet, he gets a visit from an old friend that will guide him after he is alone, to show him the way to take out the problem. This is back to the Johnny Rico we know and seeing him with the original friends is always the highlight of the series. Carl has learnt of the threat coming, where he tries to get through to both Carmen and Johnny to stop the destruction of Mars. He will do everything he needs to, to get the message through. Carmen is more of the middleman between the communication needing to make her own decision about whether to help Carl or not. Amy Snapp is the Sky Marshall who has set up her own plan to keep the federation together looks to get rid of anything she sees as a problem. While this is an interesting villain it does show the political side of the war on the bugs.
Story – The story here follows Johnny Rico who must go on his own mission with a new set of recruits to save Mars from the bug invasion and a threat from within. This does give us Johnny back in front and center again, which is why the franchise is so popular, we get to see how the war has become more political and the bugs are kind of falling into what the Zombies are in the Walking Dead, a threat but not the biggest one. It does follow one long mission which is everything we needed to see to keep things simple and that’s all we need.
Action/Sci-Fi – The action is everything we have seen from the live-action movies, which works because we know the military side of the war. With the sci-fi side of the film focusing on the battle with the bugs, just like how we have seen through the franchise.
Settings – The film returns to a bigger setting, with the war being on Mars this time showing the opening landscapes with bugs crawling all over them.
Animation – The animation standard is still strong through the film, we know the blood is going to be splattered with everything showing this is a more adult animation.
Scene of the Movie – The battle escape.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not enough original material.
Final Thoughts – This is a solid addition to the franchise, it is all entertaining and continues to build the world of Starship Troopers.
Overall: Fun Sequel.
