Operation Roughnecks: The Pluto Campaign

This first installment of an animated series chronicles Earth’s battle against invading giant insects. If the premise sounds remarkably similar to that of Paul Verhoeven's live-action sci-fi spectacle STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997), there's a good reason: Both are adapted from the same novel by Robert A. Heinlein. But while this version, originally produced for television, features elaborate computer animation, it lacks the human dynamics and irony of Verhoeven's live-action film. The animated “stars” of the film have flat expressions and flatter dialogue, which might just encourage viewers to root for the bugs. An elite squad of “roughnecks,” interstellar marines of the f...