Pound for pound, the third outing in the Starship Troopers franchise is easily the most politically charged straight-to-home market feature of its time. Lampooning everything from extreme consumerism to society's love for mass marketed pop sensations all the way to allegories attacking unwavering patriotism in the face of ill-defined policies; this is smart B-movie filmmaking from writer/director Ed Neumeier that takes no prisoners. Stepping behind the camera for the first time, the Robocop scribe does a fair job of doing a whole lot with a small budget. The effects aim just as high as its helmer's ideas, yet this admirable production still has a bit of trouble reaching the heights created under the perverted eye of mad genius - and producer on this feature -- Paul Verhoeven. Still, Neumeier delivers a whole mess of action, all the while managing to sneak a good amount of sly societal satire within the constraints of what is essentially a glorified Sci-Fi Channel production. Oh, and the franchise finally brought in power suits - thereby fulfilling the promise of author Robert A. Heinlein's original stories and giving Casper Van Dien a reason to step back into the shoes of Johnny Ricco to riotous applause of unapologetic sci-fi fans everywhere.
