Thursday, October 9, 2014

Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012)



Number Rolled: 35
Movie Name/Year: Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012)
Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Length: 88 minutes
Rating: R
Affiliated Companies: Sola Digital Arts, Stage 6 Films, Sony
Executive Producer: Edward Neumeier, Casper Van Dien
Director: Shinji Aramaki
Writer: Robert A. Heinlein, Flint Dille
Actors: Luci Christian, David Mantranga, Justin Doran, David Wald, Andrew Love, Leraldo Anzaldua, Sam Roman, Emily Neves, Melissa Davis, Kalob Martinez, Chris Patton, Adam Gibbs, Jovan Jackson, Corey Hartzog, Josh Grelle, Karl Glusman, Shelley Calene-Black, Noel Burkeen, Andy McAvin, Michael Keeney, Kris Carr

Starship Troopers: Invasion continues the story of the Starship Troopers series.

Two troops join forces to try and repel a massive bug attack and wind up putting themselves, and their ships, in great danger. It features the return of the three main characters from the first move: Johnny Rico, Carl Jenkins, and Carmen Ibanez.

First I will state that, although the main characters from the first one have returned, they are not played by the same actors. I will also state that during the majority of the movie I considered the possibility that Johnny Rico was actually being voiced by Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers, Noobz, Mortal Kombat: Legacy). As far as I’m concerned, that just means that David Matranga (Attack on Titan, RDG: Red Data Girl, Appleseed XIII – all English versions) did one hell of a job.

When the movie was over and I looked up the info on it, I was thrilled to see that Casper Van Dien did actually have a hand in the creation of the movie, despite his lack of acting in it. It made the film seem more official.

The movie itself wasn’t bad. I was worried, going into it, because the sequels to the original Starship Troopers, up until this one, kind of made me want to throw things at the TV. Invasion was significantly different.

Although I disliked the animation style, and I thought Justin Doran (Clannad, Journey to Agartha – English Versions, ER) did an absolutely awful version of Carl Jenkins, I wound up really liking the movie. The storyline was decent. I found myself highly entertained and actually happy to be watching.

I’ll admit, it was nowhere near the quality of the first film in the series. None-the-less, the idea of finally having an acceptable sequel does appeal to me.

Four movies and I can only stand the first and the last.

It is the last… right?

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 51%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 3.8/5
Trust-the-Dice Score 3.5/5

P.S. There’s a short scene after the credits. Also, although Netflix labels this a foreign film, it is in English.

Movie Trailer: 

Monday, October 6, 2014

Grabbers (2012)



Number Rolled: 31
Movie Name/Year: Grabbers (2012)
Genre: Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Length: 94 minutes
Rating: NR
Affiliated Companies: Forward Films, High Treason Productions, Irish Film Board, Nvizible, Samson Films
Executive Producer: Robert Bevan, David Collins, Nic Hatch, Michael Henry, Samantha Horley, Cyril Megret
Director: Jon Wright
Writer: Kevin Lehane
Actors: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley, Russell Tovey, Lalor Roddy, David Pearse, Bronagh Gallagher, Pascal Scott, Clelia Murphy, Louis Dempsey, Michael O’Gruagain, Ned Dennehy, Stuart Graham

Erin Island is a fishing village off the edge of Ireland. Life is quiet there, almost too quiet for Guarda Ciaran, until someone finds something in the water. Whatever the creature is, it’s proving to be too much for the little town.

This is technically an alien movie, but it follows the same basic principles of a creature feature. There’s one massive difference, though.

The graphics are relatively insane.

Sure, it’s not perfect, but the way the Grabbers are shown, even their movements are VERY believable. In movies like this, graphics are usually the easiest thing to forgive issues with and, often, it’s necessary. Bad graphics and aliens or creature features go hand in hand. It’s shocking when the creature in question is actually believable.

I’m not even sure I’d classify this as the B-movie I thought it would be.

I enjoyed almost everything about this film. My only issues were with some of the super slow parts. Other than that, the script was hilarious, the aliens were imaginative and the actors were pretty decent in their rolls.

I would watch Grabbers again. The benefits definitely outweigh the flaws.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 72%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 52%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 4.5/5
Trust-the-Dice Score3.5/5

The Random Rating: R – Language and violence

Movie Trailer: