STARSHIP TROOPERS 2: HERO OF THE FEDERATION

After the destruction of Buenos Aires and the capture of an alien brain, the war between humans and arachnids moves to the alien planet. General Sheperd's team, decimated and cornered by the horrid arachnids, is forced to take refuge in an abandoned outpost; there they find Captain Dex imprisoned, sentenced to hang for killing his commander. While the soldiers try in every way to restore the electricity and prevent the arachnids from penetrating the building, three more soldiers arrive asking for help. But not all are who they say they are, because some of the soldiers who crowd the outpost are actually controlled by an arachnid parasite that infests their brain and leads them to a slow putrefaction. Paul Verhoeven, a talented director and author of blockbusters such as "Robocop" and "Basic Instinct", in 1998 signed an innovative science fiction film with unexpectedly splatter elements that sparked much debate due to its controversial philofascist/parodic content. Five years later, a direct-to-video sequel to Verhoeven's film is released, which perhaps, more than the previous one, can be added to the horror genre. Halfway between "Pitch Black" and "Alien", "Starship Troopers 2" immediately proves to be a high-quality product that could easily compete with many other genre cousins distributed even in theaters, and beat them hands down. It starts like a classic sci-fi movie in the style of Cameron, with shootouts, sandstorms, and soldiers torn apart by the sharp legs of the arachnids; after correctly providing a link to the previous film (the funny fake recruitment propaganda spots characteristic of the first film are not missing), it immediately gets into the heart of the action with the arrival of our heroes at the abandoned outpost; on the one hand, a clear reference to Twhoy's fantasy film "Pitch Black" is hinted at (especially in the figure of the ambiguous character Dex, a bit of a hero and a bit of a criminal, very similar to the Riddick played by Vin Diesel), on the other hand, an atmosphere reminiscent of "Night of the Living Dead" can be felt, thanks to the now recurrent defense of the refuge from the monsters' attacks. In its second part, "Starship Troopers 2" delves more and more into horror territory, with the arrival of the wounded soldiers contaminated by the alien parasites that infest their brain. If "Alien" by Sholder dominates (here too the parasites are black creatures a bit less similar to slugs and more like spiders), some ideas can still seem original, such as the slow process of putrefaction that involves the body-shells of the contaminated soldiers, a device that serves as a trigger for one of the most successful splatter scenes (a soldier scatters anatomical parts around the room and is then literally opened at the height of the skull to facilitate the exit of the parasite, complete with babies!). The disgusting situations then multiply in the final quarter of an hour with decapitations and brain matter scattered everywhere. Naturally, in a film of this genre, one cannot expect great work on the characterization of the characters, so we will have a multitude of stereotypical characters who do not spare us the insecure little soldier who gains courage by saving his commander's life, nor the Hispanic-looking combative and masculine woman, although here an attempt has been made to introduce a novelty by providing some characters of the quality of clairvoyance. Despite "Starship Troopers 2" having a considerably lower budget compared to the previous chapter (and it shows especially in the poorer locations, concentrated in a single restricted and enclosed place), the special effects are of excellent level, both for what concerns the CG (to create the alien creatures) and for the craft-made makeup effects. Not much remains of the first film regarding the military propaganda-parody content, although some references are provided mainly by the anarchic and cynical ideals of the character of the galley slave Dex, who first enlisted believing in the system, then strongly repentant and disillusioned, realizing that the glory promised to the soldiers of the federation is an excuse to recruit cannon fodder. "Starship Troopers 2" is therefore a good example of a home video sequel that has nothing to envy to more ambitious and rich products; pure entertainment, but of those well-orchestrated ones that do not resolve with the classic re-proposal of situations already seen in the original film.