Thursday

I like the Starship Troopers franchise (or maybe I just like all franchises), and so I was glad to hear that a third film has been commissioned with Edward Neumeier, the writer of the first two, set to direct. He also wrote RoboCop. The second film was strange because it seemed to completely miss the irony of the first one. But if it was the same writer, what happened? Thus I am very curious to see what happens with number three. Will the irony return, or not? Number two was in fact a very simple WWII/Vietnam type movie, with hints of Alien. Still it was a reasonable addition to the franchise - it didn't just follow what had happened in the original - it's just a pity it suffered from lack of funding and, eventually, promotion (going straight to video, I believe). So what would you do if you were asked to direct number three? This is often a question I ask myself. Perhaps Indiana Jones number four interests you more? Almost always we are disappointed in such sequels, but sometimes, just sometimes, the director gets it just right. I can only hope that because they've hired the original writer something great will happen...