The third time is not a charm.

The plot: After a spaceship containing the Sky Marshall crash lands on a planet known as OM-1, Johnny Rico and a group of soldiers are assigned to rescue the survivors of the wreckage. Seems like an easy mission, right? Wrong. The planet OM-1 is actually swarming with bugs. Luckily for Rico and company, they get to test out new Mech like robots known as the Marauders. Meanwhile, on OM-1, the survivors quickly learn of a new powerful mind controlling bug that could prove fatal to the human race. Will these fully armed technologically advanced machines be able to defeat the bugs and more importantly, can the survivors be saved?

As a huge fan of “Starship Troopers,” I was excited to learn that Casper Van Dien would be reprising his role as Johnny Rico in the third installment “Starship Troopers 3: Marauder.” One of the major issues I had with the direct-to-DVD fiasco “Starship Troopers 2” was that none of the characters from the first film made an appearance. Sadly, however, not even the inclusion of Rico can help ‘Marauder’ as the film is about as fun as being attacked by an Arachnid.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up so much, but the plot of ‘Marauder’ is simply weak. Sure, some of the media spoofs and religious subplots were mildly interesting, but the core plot about the new bug felt like old hat. As sad as it is to say, I think the “Troopers” franchise should be put to an end unless Paul Verhoeven directs a new installment. The chances of that, however, are slim to none.

Another problem I had was with the characters themselves. As I stated above, Johnny Rico/Casper Van Dien is in this film, but he’s not in it all that much and is more of a secondary character. Most of the film is devoted to the frightfully dull Lola Beck (played by “Star Trek: Enterprise” alum Jolene Blaylock) and Dix Hauster (Boris Kodjoe). Why writer/director Edward Neumier opted to focus on those two characters is beyond me. Fans, like myself, would have much rather seen Rico, who is one of the few bright spots here.

Aside from Rico, I do have to say the other bright spot is the F/X. For a DVD release, the F/X are above average. The Arachnids, ships, Marauders, bugs, etc. all looked quite sharp.