By John Corrado
Director Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft) brings the British comic book series from 2000 AD to the big screen in his adult animated sci-fi film Rogue Trooper, which has the look and feel of a video game. Whether or not you find that to be a positive attribute will impact your enjoyment of the film.
The film is set on the planet Nu-Earth, where a war between different factions the Norts and the Southers has left the planet chemically poisoned. This has led to the creation of blue, genetically engineered super soldiers – “Genetic Infantryman” – who are able to inhabit the toxic atmosphere.
The protagonist is G.I. 19 (Aneurin Barnard), the sole survivor of an attack, who has the biochips of his deceased comrades embedded in his gun, helmet and knapsack; Gunner (Jack Lowden), Helm (Daryle McCormack) and Bagman (Reece Shearsmith). Jones clearly has a lot of reverence for this source material, and brings it to the screen with an all-star British voice cast that also includes the likes of Jemaine Clement, Matt Berry, Hayley Atwell and Sean Bean.
The film was animated through a mix of motion-capture performances and using Unreal Engine 5. This gives Rogue Trooper the aesthetic of a video game cutscene, mixed with the look of the 2010 box office flop Mars Needs Moms. There are some cool visuals, but the somewhat dead-eyed characters and uncanny valley look also keep us at somewhat of a distance. The comic book style of the opening and closing credits is actually more visually appealing.
Jones’ film does have some fun action scenes as well as a solid soundtrack, but the story gets a bit monotonous after a while, and feels far too long at two hours. It’s a case of your mileage may vary depending on how familiar you are with the source material.
