The bug swarms move like they have weight and momentum. The CGI finally stops apologizing for existing and just delivers the spectacle the franchise promised. After two straight-to-DVD disasters, this remembers what made Starship Troopers work: massive firepower, bodies everywhere, and the confidence to let a scene breathe long enough to wreck you. The story is tissue-thin, a plot skeleton holding up action sequences that actually matter. But for franchise fans who sat through the previous films, watching a dropship full of troopers hold a line against chittering hordes that look real is enough.

Bugs attack Fort Casey, a remote Federation outpost. The crew of the fast attack ship Alesia is sent to help the Starship John A. Warden, based at the fort, evacuate with the survivors and carry military intelligence safely home to Earth. Before the two ships can meet, Carl Jenkins, who now leads the Ministry of Paranormal Warfare, takes the Warden on a secret mission and disappears in the nebula. The veteran troopers are ordered to find it, but the rescue may lead to consequences far darker than they expect. The film is a science fiction action story built around a desperate war against the bugs.