Ryan McNeil
I usually try to refrain from reading reviews of a movie I’m going to see until I have mine written – mostly because I want to try and watch the film (and subsequently write about it) with an open mind. However, when it came to TERMINATOR SALVATION, I couldn’t help but sneak a glance at other reviews.
By and large, I was seeing nothing but hatred. Having now seen the movie for myself, I’m left with one question for the critics who loathed it so deeply:
“What did you expect?”
We begin at the end, so to speak. Judgement Day has happened, and America is now a Road Warrior-esque post apocalyptic wasteland. Man is at war with The Machines, and the machines are winning. Handily.
Enter John Connor (Christian Bale), a soldier who seems to know so much about the future, that some are calling him a prophet. Others, like his superiors in The Resistance call him a loose cannon. Regardless, Connor has entire battalions who will follow his every word, believing that he alone can lead them out of the darkness. Little do they know, that Connor is working of cheat sheets – the audio cassettes his mother Sarah left him, detailing as much as she could learn from his time traveling father Kyle Reese.
Speaking of the unsuspecting father-to-be (played here by Anton Yelchin), he turns up as a rebel in Los Angeles. He’s a less-than-awe-inspiring teenager, but quickly demonstrates that he has the instincts and tenacity that it takes to take on The Machines. While bunkered down in Los Angeles, he pulls Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) out of harm’s way. Wright seems to be stuck in a haze, and is unsure about how he came to be where he is – puzzling indeed, since the first time we see him in the movie he is on death row condemned to death by lethal injection.
Wright and Reese head towards John Connor’s location, wanting to earn their place in the human rebellion. Speaking of the revolution, they are planning a massive offensive after having stolen some SkyNet intelligence – a plan that lists Reese and Connor as number one and two respectively on the hit list.
The movie is fun but flawed. On more than one instance, I had to shake my head as characters who should know better by this point made some rather stupid decisions. However, they were few and far enough between that I was able to forgive them and move on. The acting in the movie is about as good as it needs to be, although why Christian Bale kept reverting to his DARK KNIGHT growl is beyond me. Likewise, we discover that a detail revealed in the trailer is actually a pretty big plot turn (I’ll never understand why Hollywood continues to reveal such things). Without trying to come off as an apologist, these flaws are what prevent it from becoming a great movie – but they don’t stop it from being a good movie.
Without getting too specific, one other thing that holds it back from being a great movie is an ending that seems unconcerned with concluding the chapter. During the final act, the story goes down a familiar road, but then seems to corner itself into indecision.
A moment that should shock the audience doesn’t because of what we know is still to come. After that, a moment that seems triumphant is dulled rather nonchalantly in that it’s actually only “one small step”. The story was clearly written with the intent to carry the franchise on for at least one more film. Fair play, but if Warner Brothers wants to ensure a future audience, perhaps they shouldn’t forsake their current audience with sloppy storytelling.
One thing I quite liked about this movie, is how it centers on a future we only got glimpses of in the first two Terminator films – a future war where humanity has banded together. There are no flags, no borders. The symbol The Resistance rallies behind is a simple swatch of red, meant to symbolize the common blood of mankind. It even takes a moment or two to remind us of where the series has come from courtesy of a nifty musical cue, along with a familiar bit of dialogue or two.
Whether or not you enjoy TERMINATOR will really come down to what you go into it looking for. Allow me a moment of simplistic comparison:
Not as datedly cool as THE TERMINATOR
Not as great overall as TERMINATOR 2
Not as silly as TERMINATOR 3
I won’t go so far as to call it mindless, but all the same it definitely isn’t what I’d call an intelligent action film. It is indeed one action sequence after another…but given that the war depicted has been prophesied for three movies, I must ask again – what did you expect?
EXACTLY!!! Sure there are flaws but it’s an action film – about robots in the future – what other reviewers kept saying left me scratching my head too.
I agree the way the studio cut the trailer killed the suspense in that one plotline – that was a shame. As for the end – Bale signed a 3-picture deal so… But everybody signs 3-picture deals these days.
I agree in full with your review – but the miscues didn’t phase me as much and I consider it “great” for what it is.
I don’t know what people were expecting either, especially after the goofy T3 and knowing McG’s track record. I went in with expectations that this would be as bad as the last and I ended up enjoying it enough to see it twice this weekend.
It’s got some flaws but the parts that I liked (Marcus/Blair romance)allowed me to overlook them.
Also, I don’t understand why the original is hailed as such a groundbreaking action drama. I had to will myself to get through the beginning because I was so bored. It did pick up though and I ended up liking it.
Anyway, you bring up good points. =)
@ Amanda…
That’s why I called the original “Datedly Cool”. The story, and even some of the effects, were awesome at the time, but since then there have been so many knock-offs that it feels like we’ve seen the movie a few million times over.
I saw it as a wide-eyed nine year old (The cleaned up TV version of course), so it holds a special place for me…but I could totally understand seeing it for the first time thinking of it as hokey.
Hi Mad Hatter,
My name is Chazz Lyons, and I’m the editor of a blog called Gone Cinema Poaching. I also write for a site called In Review Online, as well as contribute to a local publication called The Purcellville Gazette. Currently, I’m looking to expand Gone Cinema Poaching, by having a few more writers than just myself publish reviews on it. I’ve recently been in contact with a few other writers besides yourself and now have three other writers on board. I really dig your writing and site overall, and I was wondering if you would like to contribute film reviews to Cinema Poaching. I wouldn’t have a problem with you posting the same reviews on your blog. So, if you’re in the least bit interested, check out our site, and if you like it, write me back and we can talk about the details. Thanks!
Best,
—
Chazz Lyons,
Editor: Gone Cinema Poaching
Staff Writer: In Review Online
Contributor: The Purcellville Gazette
Email me at:
editor.gonecinemapoaching@gmail.com
Terminator Salvation might have made Christian Bale a lot more money, but it definitely did not help to establish his reputation as a dependably good actor
I love Terminator 1 and 2 and was excited about seeing this film. Your summary was spot on! I was disappointed to see a lot of similar scenes from T2 in this film, to me it felt like it was trying too hard to get the audience to go back to T2 when the franchise was at its peak instead of focusing on being a revival and two fingers to the farce that was T3.