Starship Troopers
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action/War
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: John Malone
Based on the novel by Robert E. Heinlein
Cast: Noah Centineo, Terry Crews, Bobby Cannavale, Neal McDonough, Brittany O'Grady, Randall Park, Julie Benz, Jacob Lofland, Luke Benward
Plot: Inside the vibrating confines of a drop capsule, Johnnie Rico (Noah Centineo) steadies his breath as he plummets through the icy atmosphere of Planet P, a frozen tundra world. The capsule screams through clouds of snow and fire before slamming into the capital city of the Skinnies—a humanoid race with elongated limbs, reflective carapaces, and twitching, nervous energy. Rico bursts from the hatch in his powered armor, a hulking, humanoid exoskeleton armed with flamethrowers, jump jets, and servo-powered limbs that allow him to leap stories into the air. Rico lands hard on a rooftop and immediately opens fire. Explosions shake the capital as the Mobile Infantry squad wreaks havoc, their mission to destroy communications hubs and instill terror in the Skinnies for their alliance with the Arachnids. The Skinnies return fire with erratic plasma bursts, but the Roughnecks are relentless. One trooper is taken down near Rico. In the chaos, Rico drags the injured soldier toward the extraction point. As his HUD flickers from a plasma overload, a blinding flash engulfs him.
One Year Earlier
Buenos Aires - 23rd Century
Rico is drifting through life. Having finished school with no ambition, he spends his days sleeping and his evenings partying at nightclubs. His parents - Emil (Bobby Cannavale) and Lenore (Julie Benz) - try to convince him to do something more productive with his life. Lenore tries the gentle approach, encouraging him to find a passion to pursue. Emil is more direct though. He tells his son that he isn't a child anymore, insisting he come work at the family business. Rico tunes them out.
At the club, Rico bumps into the beautiful Carmen Ibanez (Brittany O'Grady). Rico is immediately smitten and buys her a drink. She tells him that she's on weekend leave from a Terran Federation Fleet cruiser where she works as a pilot. Rico is instantly captivated. After the drink, Carmen smiles and tells him that she needs to get back to her friends.
The next morning, Rico heads to the recruitment center, determined to sign up. Rico is greeted by Sergeant Ho (Randall Park), who begins putting Rico through a series of aptitude tests. Ho immediately begins ruling out different branches. Rico's math scores are too low for Fleet. Ho determines that Rico is too honest for Intelligence. Rico struggles through the cognitive tests and simulator assignments, trying to stay focused while Ho launches into a history lesson. Ho explains that before the Bugs, people thought you could run a government with good intentions and social media likes. Then the Food Riots happened, the Pan-Pacific War, then the Bugs, turning entire colonies into mulch. The Terran Federation was then born to save humanity.
After the test, Rico is mentally exhausted. Ho announces that Rico's aptitude has been matched to the Mobile Infantry - where the real heroes go. As Rico waits for his medical screening, Ho describes the Mobile Infantry, explaining that Rico will probably start of as cannon fodder, but if he doesn't get turned into salsa, he has an opportunity to make something of himself as a citizen. Rico signs his enlistment contract.
When Rico's parents learn that he has joined the Mobile Infantry, they are upset - Lenore is worried about his safety, while Emil is furious that Rico would be so stupid to throw his future away. Emil then tries to reason with his son, suggesting that he could pull some strings and make the whole thing disappear - Mobile Infantry is for people who have no other options. Rico stands firm and leaves for training that same day.
Johnnie Rico arrives at Camp Currie for boot camp in the wind-blasted northern prairies of Canada, surrounded by endless fields of snow and frozen dirt. Rico and the other recruits have no time to adjust before Sergeant Charles Zim (Terry Crews), their drill instructor, begins barking orders at them. Within moments, they are lined up, running drills, and scrambling to memorize procedures. Rico struggles to keep pace. Among the other wide-eyed recruits, Ted Hendrick (Jacob Lofland), stands out, making inappropriate jokes and unsettling comments about how badly he wants to kill - even if he has to settle for the Bugs. Rico and the others keep their distance from him.
On the second day, a recruit throws a punch during an exercise. Zim wastes no time, hauling the offender to the center of camp. The recruit is bound to a post and flogged in full view of the others. No one speaks as the whip cracks. Rico watches, stunned, as the skin spits and the recruit begins crying from the pain. Zim explains to the stunned platoon that justice in the Mobile Infantry is exacting and swift - you live by the book, or you die by the book.
As the weeks pass, boot camp becomes more grueling - designed to crush the civilian out of every recruit. Reveille before dawn, obstacle courses, zero-gravity simulation, and hand-to-hand combat drills fill each day until lights out as Zim's voice barks orders throughout. Rico has befriended another recruit, Ace (Luke Benward), a confident soldier who grew up on a farm. Meanwhile, Hendrick's behavior grows darker, openly fantasizing about racking up kills.
One evening, the recruits return to the barracks after a brutal day of drills to find it buzzing with rumors that Hendrick has gone missing. By morning, the truth is revealed that Hendrick went AWOL and killed a civilian. There is no cover-up or excuses. Hendrick is dragged back to Camp Currie in restraints. Zim calls the company to attention in the freezing parade square. Without any kind of fanfare, Hendrick is marched to a gallows hastily assembled in front of the barracks. The recruits watch in silence as Hendrick's sentence is carried out and hung. Zim reminds the young men that the human race is at war and that in the Mobile Infantry there is no tolerance for betrayal, cowardice, or chaos.
Rico graduates from boot camp. He is no longer a recruit - he is now a Private in the Terran Mobile Infantry. Rico and Ace are both assigned to Rasczak's Roughnecks, one of the most respected combat units in the service. Within hours, they're packed onto a troop transport taking them away from Earth to rendezvous with the Roughnecks on a carrier headed for Klendathu. Lieutenant Rasczak (Neal McDonough), the commanding officer of the Roughnecks, doesn't say much - he doesn't need to. He issues orders with a calm authority as he prepares the unit for combat as they get into their drop pods.
The surface of Klendathu is black and broken, a volcanic wasteland riddled with jagged cliffs, lava cracks, and dense hive tunnels. Rico and the Roughnecks are among the first wave of troopers to arrive on the surface. The squad is immediately under siege. Massive Warrior Bugs surge from hidden burrows, their claws hammering against armor with bone-rattling force. Rico unleashes his rifle, but for every Bug they take down, three more replace it. The screams of wounded soldiers blend with radio static. Rico’s HUD lights up with emergency signals as his unit is overwhelmed. Lieutenant Rasczak’s voice barks orders through the comms, ordering a hasty retreat. Rico and Ace leap-jet across a collapsing ridge to reach the extraction point. Rico turns just long enough to see a Bug swarm over the last of a neighboring squad. He boards the evac ship seconds before it lifts off.
On the troop transport, Rico sits alone when he is notified of an emergency news broadcast showing that a meteor, launched by the Bugs from deep space, has struck Buenos Aires without warning, leaving a deep crater where the city once stood. Rico reads the casualty list. His mother’s name is among the confirmed dead. His father’s name is absent—unaccounted for. Rico realizes there he has no home left to return to.
During a resupply layover at a fleet station orbiting Mars, Rico’s unit disembarks for debriefing and equipment maintenance. Rico steps out of the transport, still trying to process the loss of his home and family. Across the bay, he spots Zim dressed in full power armor. Rico learns that Zim volunteered to step down in rank in order to return to the front lines - he'd rather fight than train.
Rasczak informs the Roughnecks that they have been called back into duty for a mission on the jungle world of Hesperus. On the surface of the planet, the Roughnecks are deep in enemy territory, pushing toward what Intel believes is a hidden Bug hive buried beneath the canopy. Flying Bugs suddenly descend from the trees, shrieking as they dive-bomb the unit. Rico calls for a defensive formation as the Roughnecks are quickly surrounded. They defend their position with every bit of fire power at their disposal. Just when it seems like they are overwhelmed, a dropship bursts through the clouds, piloted by Carmen. She maneuvers through the chaos with precision. Rico and Ace signal the others to fall back. Inside the ship, Carmen and Rico lock eyes. She barely recognizes him from the nightclub in Buenos Aires.
Aboard the John A. Warden fleet carrier, the Roughnecks gather in a briefing room. Lieutenant Rasczak stands at the head of the room, telling the team that their next mission is set for Planet P - where the Skinnies are supposedly protecting a Brain Bug. Their mission is to capture this Brain Bug. Rasczak tells the Roughnecks that he expects them to their jobs - nothing more, nothing less.
The dropships thunder into the atmosphere of Planet P, battered by plasma blasts from hidden Bug artillery concealed in the glacial ravines below. The moment the dropship hits the ground, the hatch blows open, and the Roughnecks pour out. Warrior Bugs charge at them from ice tunnels. Rico and Ace lead the charge, using flamethrowers against Arachnids and Skinnies. As they breach deeper into enemy territory, Rasczak spots a young recruit frozen in panic, cornered by Skinnies. Without hesitation, he shoves the rookie out of the way and takes the hit himself. Rico rushes to Rasczak's side - his wound is mortal. He tells Rico that the Roughnecks are his to lead now. Rico nods, choking back his emotion. Rico takes charge of the unit, leading them down a narrow pass that opens into a vast sinkhole - the entrance to the Brain Bug's lair.
A Fleet fighter piloted by Carmen screams past overhead, providing fire that clears out flying bugs threatening the Roughnecks' flank. With Rico calling the charge, the squad descends into the tunnels below. At the heart of the hive, they find the Brain Bug - an enormous, bloated, and grotesque creature. The Brain Bug is cornered and captured. Just as Rico's team prepares to evacuate the Brain Bug's chamber, a tremor shakes the tunnels. Hundreds of Warrior Bugs, plasma spitters, and flyers descend from above in an effort to reclaim their queen. The Roughnecks form a circle around the restrained Brain Bug and keep the bugs at bay until the extraction ship arrives.
After the battle, Rico discovers that his father Emil is one of the soldiers returning from Planet P. Emil tells his son that he joined the Mobile Infantry after the attack on Buenos Aires to get revenge on the bugs. Rico gives his father a big hug - something they haven't done in years.
Later that evening, Carmen finds Rico on the fleet carrier. She sees that he is exhausted from battle. Instead of speaking, she holds his hand. Rico gives Carmen a kiss.
A line of soldiers, fresh from training, are all lined up. Johnnie Rico addresses his latest group of Roughnecks. Emil is revealed to be working under his son as squad leader. Rico faces the troops. “You apes wanna live forever?”
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