It Looks Like Neill Blomkamp's 'Starship Troopers' Remake Is Completely Missing the Point of the Original — and It Could Be a Massive Problem

For many reasons, many of them obvious, Starship Troopersis one of the most prescient films of its time, and its commentary is more pressing than ever. Gravely misunderstood upon release, Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi war film was one of the bravest novel adaptations in recent memory. While its source material, the 1959 novel by Robert A. Heinlen of the same name, glorified militarization and imperialism with highly questionable political motivations, Verhoeven and screenwriter Edward Neumeier reshaped the story of the international war on a race of foreign bugs as a biting, anti-fascist allegory. The film is so aggressively scathing towards American politics and the loss of humanity in a jingoistic world that it's baffling to think that most critics interpreted Verhoeven's vision as pro-fascist. No one asked for a remake of Starship Troopers, but if you're going to do it, don't strip away Verhoeven's satirical edge. That's the last thing anyone needs.