There is here very little added to Paul Verhoeven's misunderstood masterpiece. In fact the Johnny Rico, Carmen Ibanez and Carl Jenkins characters and even Basil Poledouris's theme tune are all back to join in a new group of tough-as-nail marines sent to rescue the survivors of Fort Casey and destroy the bug hive upon which the fort has been built. I won't be revealing too much by saying that things won't go according to plan and they'll end up trying to prevent a bug invasion on Earth.
This Japanese take on Robert A. Heinlein mythology more or less try to replicate Verhoeven's 1994 blockbuster with mixed results. It is action packed, standing proudly shoulders to shoulders with the crazy Dutchman in terms of violence, and with barely no slowing down in the pace. Needless to say, the notion of characterization is here merely academic which I don't think was the point of the film to begin with so that can be excused I suppose. However this makes this movie a confusing experience at times for so many male characters actually looking very much alike while sharing a similar type of voice.
But for me, the main let down however reside in the fact that I couldn't shake the impression of watching a video game with its many levels: a very brief explanation of the mission is followed by a shooting session to the next brief explanation of the next mission and so on and so forth, making the feeble attempts of humanization of its synthetic characters laughable.
In the end, the resulting piece becomes a series of interchangeable battles devoid of any emotional impact. At best, it might entertain a certain target audience for a short while but I wage it will certainly be quickly forgotten by almost everyone.
This Japanese take on Robert A. Heinlein mythology more or less try to replicate Verhoeven's 1994 blockbuster with mixed results. It is action packed, standing proudly shoulders to shoulders with the crazy Dutchman in terms of violence, and with barely no slowing down in the pace. Needless to say, the notion of characterization is here merely academic which I don't think was the point of the film to begin with so that can be excused I suppose. However this makes this movie a confusing experience at times for so many male characters actually looking very much alike while sharing a similar type of voice.
But for me, the main let down however reside in the fact that I couldn't shake the impression of watching a video game with its many levels: a very brief explanation of the mission is followed by a shooting session to the next brief explanation of the next mission and so on and so forth, making the feeble attempts of humanization of its synthetic characters laughable.
In the end, the resulting piece becomes a series of interchangeable battles devoid of any emotional impact. At best, it might entertain a certain target audience for a short while but I wage it will certainly be quickly forgotten by almost everyone.