D: Joseph McGinty NicholC: Sam Worthington, Christian Bale, Moon Bloodgood, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, Helena Bonham Carter, Common, Jadagrace, etc.
I was planning on finishing a review for Woodstock (1970) before this, but I hit a wall with that one, so here's a review for the latest Terminator film instead. Before you read any further, keep in mind that I'm a big fan of the franchise, despite not having no interest in The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Terminator Salvation gets off to a slow start. You never really make a connection to John Connor in this film, which is not good since he's the main character. The one who fills in the emotional gaps is the character of Marcus Wright and the familiar themes he brings with him. Sam Worthington doesn't necessarily steal the show here, but he definitely stands out and is way ahead of Christian Bale. His character trades places with the good Terminator played by Arnold in the previous two movies. The Austrian body builder (Roland Kickinger) used for this movie, in attempt to give the fan a few measly seconds of nostalgia, doesn't do much difference in the end. I'm sure the CGI sequence was a treat to many, but it felt more of an easter egg than something meaningful. Terminator Salvation tries really hard to make a significant connection to the previous films, when it actually shouldn't, since the game plan has changed. Like with Rise of the Machines, Salvation is helmed by a mediocre director who's only accomplishment is We Are Marshall, as far as I'm concerned. Surprisingly the guys who penned the first draft of the script of Salvation, are back from Rise of the Machines. This move was not a good idea, since T3 also failed to make any meaningful connection to Cameron's Terminator movies and the only thing it really had going for it was obviously Arnold himself. After John Brancato and Michael Ferris wrote the first draft, it went through extensive rewrites by Paul Haggis, Shawn Ryan, Jonathan Nolan and Anthony E. Zuiker. This made me somewhat hopeful, but the groundwork had done it's dirty deed. Despite receiving full credit, the Brancato/Ferris script should've been scrapped completely and rewritten by people who wouldn't further taint the Cameron legacy. This is what gives the new trilogy a real bad taste of milking the cow, since the studio and producers are not committed to finding the right people to handle this properly. In the end this is about money, despite the desperate attempt to give fans something in terms of nostalgia. Terminator Salvation is a stand-alone film and the same goes for any future Terminator installments. There are two key components missing here: James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Without these two, your only hope is for a spin-off or a cash-in sequel in the vein of Spider-Man 3 or Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Thankfully, Terminator Salvation isn't a complete mess like the aforementioned, but it doesn't actually have a lot going for it either. Neither is it a successful reboot like Casino Royale, Batman Begins or the recent Star Trek, so it falls somewhere in the middle.
The movie picks up at the gas station scene and keeps a pretty good pace after that. There's no question about what is emphasized in this film, which are the visual effects of course. The thing that puts me off though, is the color palette. It's completely unimaginative, sort of a poor man's post-apocalyptic image of the future. The dominant colors are brown, black or gray, whether it's daytime or nighttime. I thought the sort of sterile blue look of Judgement Day was fucking gorgeous and the daytime scenes were in focus, not overdone like most action movies that are heavy on CGI. This is the other reason I'm not too fond of advancements in technology, because the film gets manipulated in so many ways that there isn't much real stuff left in there. As another example, I'm more likelier to be frightened by a tangible prosthetic creature than something created with CGI, unless the sound department and the effects really excel in their work. What I'm saying is that the film looks uninteresting. Massive explosions and cool robots don't salvage much if the film is not visually compelling. The sound work was pretty good though, but the Transformer sequel is likely to give the Terminator a run for it's money in that regard and also in the visual department, judging by the first Transformers. The soundtrack of Terminator Salvation was also forgettable, although some themes were used that are familiar to us from the previous films. I expected a bit more than a recycled Terminator theme though. Danny Elfman was not the right choice for this project and it's surprising, because he's done way better stuff previously.
Christian Bale seems to have trouble shaking off his Batman character, this growl is getting ridiculous now that it's transcending into other franchises and it doesn't suit this particular film very well. On top of that, Bale didn't stand out with anything in Salvation, both his character and performance felt like a filler. I think he had trouble finding a middle ground for John Connor, because he's been portrayed as a rebellious teen from a broken home, then a junkie and then as a leader of a resistance in a few brief scenes in T2 and T3. Depending on how you look at it, he didn't have much to go by, since this character has gone through so many changes. Since Bale is a great actor and proven that on many occasions, I would wholeheartedly blame the writers for this. John Connor in Salvation is incredibly one-dimensional, lacking any true sense of history behind him, besides what the fans already know. Just a lot of wasted potential and especially when the character of Kyle Reese comes into play. Most notably, I had high hopes for the character interaction between Connor and Marcus Wright, that ultimately came off more sloppy than dynamic. But I guess that was the trade-off with Marcus Wright and Kyle Reese. Sam Worthington was the lead of this film, as far as I'm concerned and probably the only surprising subplot was between Marcus Wright and Blair Williams. That aspect of the film was the most interesting one for me personally, since it created some extra drama within the resistance. The drama with General Ashdown, played by Michael Ironside, is as cliche as in any other film. Lot of plot points are underdeveloped, the same goes for many of the characters and the movie explains itself where it shouldn't and doesn't where it's needed. Overall it's just poorly written, so the groundwork is not strong enough to build on. McG's only expertise is music videos and a couple of Charlie's Angels movies, so he wasn't exactly the best choice for this. Even though I was hopeful, since he showed some promise with We Are Marshall.
Now on to the people that were underutilized or misused. Since Linda Hamilton lent her voice for this film, she should've been used to tell an introduction to Terminator Salvation, like she wrapped up the film in T2. The tape recording was a nice touch, but it felt completely wasted, especially when I think about the slow and lackluster beginning of the film. Since they got the permission to use Arnold's likeness in CGI form, they ought to have used it a little more than that, since they already were pushing the nostalgia buttons. Common, now I'm usually against rappers-turned-actors, but he's proven to have some acting skills and when he should've been Connor's right hand man, he ultimately had only a few lines, basically a very underdeveloped character. I'd rather have well developed side characters in a resistance type of scenario, thank you very much. Jadagrace Berry, who played Star, had no lines and had a complete opposite effect, for comparison. Sam Worthington did a good job overall, even though his Australian accent broke through a few times. I'm still looking forward to seeing more of him in Avatar. I had higher hopes for Anton Yelchin and as I feared, this wasn't the type of role for him. Helena Bonham Carter was a great addition to the cast, despite not having much screen time. Moon Bloodgood served her purpose rather well and as for Bryce Dallas Howard, well, I can just sink into those eyes. That woman is mesmerizing.
People actually used to work hard within the budget they had, but nowadays if you're making a 200 million dollar movie, the creative team is way too relaxed and the film is so visually manipulated through computers, so the essence that was once there, goes out the window. Judgement Day had a budget half the size of this one and their visual effects were groundbreaking. They still amaze me after all this time. Ultimately, the weak point of Terminator Salvation is a poor script, despite the movie arriving at a narrative closure and nailing the underlying theme, which is of course salvation. That experience is ruined by some continuity problems, plot holes and illogical plot development. To give a few examples. A nuke explosion takes down a helicopter in the beginning of the movie, when several Terminator batteries exploding simultaneously cause no harm at the end of the film. Doesn't a nuclear explosion take out all electrical equipment in the area, making the legless T-600 ineffective and the helicopter to come crashing down at the end ? Also, why didn't John offer Marcus to take the signal with him and disable all of the robots within Skynet's headquarters ? Why didn't John take the signal with him to make the rescuing of Kyle Reese and other prisoners a lot easier ? All things aside, the action was pretty solid, it had a few laughs here and there, the pacing was okay after the gas station scene and the acting was acceptable, more or less. However, the dramatic elements didn't rise to their full potential and the leading man turned out to be a side show. Dialogue was forgettable and the script overall was poorly constructed, despite numerous rewrites. Traditional movie cliches don't help it either, it lacks originality and passion. If you're a Terminator fan, then it's definitely worth a watch, but for an average cinema-goer I can only recommend it if you like to turn off your brain, eat popcorn and just enjoy the action.
6/10
