Terminator Salvation

Being a child of the 80's, I'm a die-hard fan of the Terminator franchise. The first two movies are great films I've grown up on and am very passionate about. I can't say enough to describe how great they are. The first movie is a tech-noir horror film, the second film is a big-budget, action blockbuster. Two completely almost completely different films that work incredibly well in their genres.

People usually crap all over Mostow's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Sure, it wasn't a great or even memorable movie, but it had some fantastic action and a very shocking ending that made the experience worthwhile. It had many problems such as out-of-place humor and it was a rehash of Terminator 2, but it was fun to watch.



When I first heard of McG directing a new Terminator film, I face-palmed like the rest of the world. Then shocking news: Christian Bale is John Connor. Could the casting of Bale be a sign of good things to come? Perhaps this is the glimmer of hope we need. The more news that came out, the better this film seemed to get (at least to me.)

After some awesome trailers and some big-talk from McG, I was hyped. This was probably my most anticipated movie of the summer.

I have to admit, some of the opening scenes didn't win me over at all. First of all, I thought the score for the opening credits was rather bland when comparing it to The Terminator and Terminator 2. Secondly, the meeting between Marcus (Sam Worthington) and Serena (Helena Bonham Carter) was full of cheese. I'll give you my life for a kiss? That's what death tastes like? Give me a break.



Thankfully, after that, it got much better. We're introduced to John Connor as he discovers a lab in which Skynet is experimenting on human subjects. Inadvertently, this awakens Marcus Wright, a man who was executed via lethal injection 15 years earlier. To his surprise, the world is a charred mess. As he ventures the burnt landscape, he meets Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, orignally played by Michael Biehn,) the teenage father of John Connor.

Connor tries desperately to find Kyle Reese before Skynet does. If they kill Reese, Connor ceases to exist. Meanwhile, his meeting with Marcus makes him doubt what he knew Skynet is capable of.

I had a lot of problems with this movie, but overall, I enjoyed it. Say what you will about McG, but this guy can direct action scenes. It was incredible to watch. Most notably, the chase scene involving Marcus, Reese, a giant "Harvester" and Terminator-cycles. It was very much a Road Warrior-worthy, mayhem-filled chase.



On the subject of Road Warrior, this film borrows a lot from other post-apocalyptic film which isn't such a bad thing until they start using the cliches. The worst comes in the form of a scene in which hard-ass female soldier Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) fights off a gang of rapists. Not even nukes or killer robots will keep the gang from Deliverance from wanting to bust a nut.

Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese and Sam Worthing as Marcus Wright were the best performances of the film by far. Yelchin channeled a lot of Biehn's ferocity and innocence from the original film. Sam Worthington, who will be starring in Terminator creator James Cameron's new film Avatar, proves why he will be a huge star in the near future. He's got the looks and charisma and even stole the show from the other star, Batman himself, Christian Bale.



Oh, and Christian Bale...

He certainly growls a lot. He certainly didn't do a whole lot for me. I'm not sure if I can blame Bale or the director, but the Connor scene were tacked on for a reason. It's too bad, because it made the overall feel of the film disjointed.

There were some great moments for Connor, especially the scenes when he's listening to his mother's old recordings and wondering if he really knew his enemy as well has he thinks he does.


John Connor doesn't become the "savior" for this movie because it's the first movie in a "planned" trilogy. I put the emphasis on "planned" because, after watching this movie, there doesn't seem to be much of a plan. Many of us following the new Batman series knew Christopher Nolan was planning a sequel for Batman involving Joker and Two-Face and it was set-up very well at the end of the first film. This film has no such plans. We're not left with anything to look forward to except more fights and more war.

The female supporting cast just don't do a whole lot. Dallas Bryce Howard plays Connor's wife and she doesn't really do anything... at all. Blair Williams' relationship with Marcus seems very rushed. Oh, and Common... what the hell was the point of him? It's hard to see a trilogy since only a few characters were actually given something to do. Again, look at past planned trilogies, every character has some sort of task or arc, there was a whole lot of nothing going on with these characters.

One of the main reasons I'm such a fan of the Terminator saga is the screwed up family stuff. John Connor meets his own father when his father is only a teenager. He will train him to fight and eventually have to send him back in time to protect his mother, conceive him while knowing that he will die in the process. The Sarah Connor Chronicles put a great emphasis on how John always wanted to meet his father Kyle, it's one of the things that show did incredibly well.


When John finally meets Kyle, it's underwhelming to say the least. I would expect John to see him, pause and think "Holy shit... that's my father... after all of these years, he's right here in front of me." It's basically "Hey, Terminators are everywhere, let's blow this joint." It also happens so late in the film, there wasn't much time to show anything else. This was quite disheartening for myself.

There's a ton of fan service in the film. We get famous lines such as "Come with me if you want to live" and, of course "I'll be back." At times, it seemed to be a bit too much, but I can't deny getting a smirk on my face when Guns N Roses "You Could Be Mine" was playing as Connor was setting up a trap for a machine.

The first film was about saving Sarah Connor, the second film as about saving John Connor and this film was about saving Kyle Reese. But, for no reason at all, the machines know that Reese is the father of Connor. I have a problem with this since not even Reese knows he's his father. There are some other many "questionable" actions from Skynet as well, but I don't want to spoil the film.


I loved the look of the film. It does sort of remind me of the flashbacks of the first entries. Sure, they don't look too much alike, but this movie is set 11 years before those scenes. The PG-13 was a bit of a drag, but I didn't feel cheated at all. Here's hoping for the director's cut on Blu-ray.

This film had no chance competing with the first two films, but it is a very good companion piece. It's a fast-moving, action extravaganza, but there are some major problems story-wise and the ending seems like a rush-job. As a Terminator fan, I thought it was pretty damn good for what it was, but it could have been so much better.