Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation - Not as bad as some make out (but definitely not that good, either)

Fact: Everyone loved the first ‘Starship Troopers’ movie.  Face no 2: I made that first fact up.  However, it’s fair to say that a film about extremely good looking teenagers getting their brains sucked out was never destined for true critical acclaim or Oscar nominations, but it was pretty damn good fun anyway.

I suppose that’s what people were hoping with part II.  The problem was that, no matter how much fun Starship Troopers was, it never quite set the Box Office alight as the film-makers might have hoped.  Therefore, any sequel was destined never to have the budget of the original.  And here it really shows.

If you check out most of the reviews of ‘Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation’ you’ll see that most people absolutely hated it.  And, I can see where they’re coming from.  Firstly... the budget.  It doesn’t have one.  Any big dramatic set pieces you may recall from the first film have been replaced by a single set and a background of a sandstorm on an alien planet (largely to cover up the lack of ‘alien’ surroundings).  Then there are the actors.  You won’t have heard of any of them (okay, so you didn’t know Denise Richards before Starship Troopers, yet the calibre of actors seems better in the first film).  Then there’s the general change of tone.  Gone are the big, blazing gun battles and in their place a thin, lifeless plot about alien bugs who can get inside humans – again, largely to replace the need to make proper aliens as the bad guys and use regular actors instead.

All of the above is bad and yet I can kind of forgive it for.  I have actually watched Part II a few times.  Yes, it’s a B-movie and it’s not that good, but I can’t bring myself to totally hate it.  In my opinion... the worst flaw it contains is its repeated lack of logic.  It’s just badly written in places that totally spoils what could be (at least) a lesser compendium piece to the original.  You have plot devices that are just wedged in to forward the story and keep the main characters alive, even if what you see contradicts what’s happened just a few scenes before.

It’s hard to recommend Part II to anyone really.  Fans of sci-fi and B-movies in general will probably just find it lame.  Those diehard fans of the original will find this one blasphemy as it changes things around so much and, if you’re generally looking for an action movie, you’ll have seen a hundred better ones.  So, I guess the only people who will find something vaguely enjoyable out of it (like me!) are those who can forgive it its many flaws and limitations.  If you set your sights low enough, you may just find something entertaining here.  But don’t hold your breath.

6/10 May just keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights