Thanks for checking out our Terminator Salvation review.
I had the chance to check out a screening for Terminator Salvation at a local AMC digital theater, and what a treat that was. The high backed chairs had a little spring recliner feel to them, and the picture was impressively clear.
Oh wait, I saw a movie there too. Well I didn’t hate it completely, but my socks stayed firmly unknocked.
THE GENERAL IDEA
Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
THE GOOD
The whole overall tone of the film has some great visuals. The very air seems to have a tint to it that just reminds you that after the nuclear fallout, that the earth is just not the same. If that didn’t do it for you, the massive remains of destruction would never let you forget. The designs of the Terminators, the Cycle-Terminators, the giant robo mecha-terminators, and well… everything is visually appealing. This is EXACTLY the future we expected to see in this continuing of the franchise. The Terminators are every bit as unstoppable as you would expect and even military grade weaponry seems to only slow them down until someone drops a skyscraper on them.
The action is great. Lots of over the top graphic scenes illustrate just how badly outmatched people are against the Terminators. People were worried that the PG-13 rating would take away from all of that, but it doesn’t at all. I found myself cringing in sympathy at the screen many times. There were a few times where something happens and you think that would kill a man and you have to suspend your disbelief for a moment and just enjoy it. The action is what this movie is all about.
Anton Yelchin is amazingly good as the young Kyle Reese. You see his empassioned leadership peeking out from his nervous false bravado. If they do get around to sequels, I want them to be all about this guy.
Linda Hamilton makes a cameo in voice only on the tapes she is seen recording at the end of T2. Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a cameo appearance but I won’t tell you when or how, but its probably my favourite part of the movie.
THE BAD
Charisma? Bale you are doing it wrong! Connor was supposed to be the saviour of mankind, but there was nothing inspiring or charismatic about this guy that made me believe that he could inspire such loyalty. Sure he kicks some ass and has his little radio show (I didn’t make that up) where he gives speeches about the resistance, but the religious level following of this commonplace soldier is just not justified. Bale is a fantastic actor but I just wasn’t buying him as man’s only hope. Perhaps in this dark dismal future, the world is so hopeless that the one guy who seems to have some sort of passion about anything at all is considered a messiah. I hear it was a toss up between him and the guy who still knows how to do Oragami.
The supporting cast is sloppy. An old lady who shows a moment of kindness and is then abducted by giant robo-mecha-terminator plays to the heart strings for about a half a second then everytime you see her you just wonder why this extra got a speaking part. Then there is the mute kid side kick for Reese. Pointless. And Connor’s wife (played by the infectiously pretty Bryce Dallas Howard) is the only woman in the post apocalyptic world to own lipstick. Connor never even acknowledges she is pregnant and she serves no purpose. They even had Michael Ironside. Wasted.
OVERALL
Even with moments that deliberately drop the “Come with me if you want to live” and “I’ll be back” lines (yes, they both happen) this movie seems to be suffering from the same unquantifiable stigma that curse both Sequels and Prequels. This movie is technically both. Don’t hurt your head too much on that one.
As a sequel, we want a movie that leads us to the next part, showing us something new, something exciting, something kicking something’s ass. But then as a PREQUEL we are stabbed in the eye with the lack of threat. At one point in the movie Connor sums up the Terminator’s apparent mission by saying “Kill Kyle Reese, Reset the Future” and I had a glimmer of hope that something radical would happen and we would get to see a whole new evolution of the story. But we know that as long as there IS a story to tell that the eventual end (sending Reese back to save Sarah Connor and father John) will still happen. There is no suspense. I don’t fear for Reese’s or Connor’s life at all. And where they had lots of opportunity to make us care about other characters who’s fates are not already spelled out, they drop the ball.
I am not saying I wanted McG’s rumoured massacre ending to happen, but I would have liked to have shaken things up somehow. All in all, I was left underwhelmed, and the impressive designs and incredible action just didn’t make up for it.
Overall I give Terminator Salvation a 4 out of 10.
