Underneath all the explosions and pop culture references, "Small Soldiers" is far smarter, angrier, and more politically engaged than anyone gave it credit for during its initial release. It's deeply critical of corporations, the military, and the uncomfortably close relationship that these two groups often share.
The film argues that when a corporation pursues profit above all else, everything else will be sacrificed along the way. Why didn't GloboTech run any tests to see if the Commandos were dangerous? They were rushing to hit a Christmas deadline. To quote Joe the truck driver, "Corporations, right hand doesn't know what the left hand is screwing up."
"Small Soldiers" is also critical of pro-military propaganda disguised as children's entertainment. According to their packaging, the American military-coded Commando Elite are the heroes, and the alien Gorgonites are the villains. But in truth, the Gorgonites are pacifists, in part because they are "programmed to lose," and the Commandos are trigger-happy thugs, stopping at nothing to exterminate these foreign invaders, despite their peaceful nature.
However, the most damning criticism of all occurs at the film's conclusion. Although the nominal villains — the Commando Elite — are destroyed, the actual villains — GloboTech — aren't punished at all. Gil Mars just writes a series of checks to the various traumatized parties, buying their silence. He then picks up the charred husk of a Commando and, after asking Irwin what they've been selling these for, says "Add a few zeros to the end of that number and contact our military division. I know some South American rebels who will find these toys very entertaining." Far from being defeated, GloboTech is just getting started.
