Terminator: Salvation

[Ozweego]

Bad!

Do you remember T3??? Well, think of that with a higher budget.

I honestly don't think that any future Terminator movies could possibly be good, no matter who directs, acts or produces the film. Unfortunately using time-travel in the first and second Terminator pretty much punched unpatchable holes in the Terminator franchise.

If you have the ability to go back in time, why not go back earlier rather then later throughout John Connors life? Think about it, in Terminator 1, they sent back the Govenator which failed miserably. Obviously, being in the future, the machines knew the mission failed. The solution would be to send back another a try again, and again, and again, and again...you get where I am coming from. For a race of super-intelligent robots, they sure are stupid.

For a more direct hands on review of Salvation, I will provide you with these non-spoiler facts that occur during the film:

1. Machines are USB 2.0 compatible
2. Bullets work! Molten metal does not.
3. Vets are competent heart surgeons
4. Terminators float.
5. The machines cannot decipher AM radio signals...

Best "actual" quote from the movie:

"Connor get topside and get everyone on the radio, even if their dead!"

[britcitchris]

Yeah, it sure does suck, doesn't it. Great effects and action scenes and ****** all else. Bland story, bland characters and a script written by a retarded monkey. The only thing i really liked was the opening scence that has a superb tracking shot.

Chris.

[Ostrich]

12A. Explains a LOT.

[phil81]

It really wasn't all that bad. The action was handled well, Sam Worthington gave a fine performance and most of it actually made sense. Yes, the end was a little anti-climactic and it wasn't a patch on Cameron, but it could have been a lot worse. I think there's life in it yet.

[britcitchris]

the failure isnt the 12a rating. the rubbish characters and dialogue are to blame.

[SmokeNMirrors]

OK guys this is my second review - writing for a local paper so having to keep it somewhat tame...! You comments feedback would be much appreciated.
D.


Terminator: Salvation
Director: Joseph “McG” McGinty Nichol
Verdict: 4 out of 5


With a prophetic title promising Deliverance in a new fourth chapter of this thrilling sci fi series (and perhaps a little redemption from the previous flop that was Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines) McG’s T4 needed to offer this generation of techno-savvy fans a believable, revamped and recharged thriller to resuscitate this much-loved series.

Set in 2018, we are catapulted in to the world of John Connor (Christian Bale), a common soldier in The Resistance waging war against Skynet (an artificially intelligent system which became self aware and revolted against its human creators) and its army of Terminators hell-bent on ridding the Earth of human existence.

Destined to become military leader, this prophet-of-doom holds high regard within his soldier ranks and commands more respect than his generals, who dole orders from a secret submarine HQ, and is therefore top choice to head-up an offensive against the Skynet base in San Francisco.

Focusing on the war between humanity and the machines, McG juxtaposes the relationship between Connor and Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a mysterious stranger discovered by The Resistance. Connor must decide if Marcus is friend or foe, saved from the past or sent from the future, if he is to steal into the heart of Skynet’s operations and achieve victory.

But something is amiss – this might not be the future John Connor has prepared for… and with a hoard of gun-wielding Metal Mickeys after him, he can’t afford to make even the slightest of mistakes.

Taking the helm of T4 was a risky decision for director McG, with fans understandably nervous of a director whose most memorable films to date have been the less-than-inspiring Charlies Angels flicks.

And who can blame them – The Terminator (1984) was perhaps one of the most iconic “horror” films of the 80s, and largely responsible for propelling movie legend Arnold Schwarzenegger into international stardom, creating some of the most memorable and quoted lines in movie history.

Followed by Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), James Cameron’s sequel expanded the legacy of Skynet, and became somewhat of a benchmark for pioneering ground-breaking CGI with the iconic T-1000 almost eclipsing the original android assassin in its movie legacy.

Unfortunately, the reins were passed to Jonathan Moslow for 2003’s third instalment, Rise of the Machines, which robbed the series of its credibility and more importantly, its fans.

So McG’s vision for Salvation needed the kudos and the technical wizardry the first two films had so uniquely provided. And boy did he get it right.

Perhaps with a few dud lines here and there and with some poor or hasty editing, Salvation is not without its flaws. But where is excels is in creating a bleak, desolate and engaging descent into the would-be future of the human race, weighing in some spectacular fight scenes and jaw-dropping special effect sequences.

With every dusty breath we take, we’re drawn into the futuristic landscape of 2018: a post-apocalyptic Earth nicknamed Judgement Day by the few survivors, where the scorched remains of human existence is bleached in the hot Los Angeles’ sun and burnt-out cars are strewn across streets in the ragged shadow of crumbling buildings.

McG’s hues of rusting steel and decaying bone create a landscape of combat that is every bit as believable as some of the well-known war epics of recent years. Danny Elfman’s aggressive score is fitting for a stark, sepia-toned nightmarescape where the fight for human survival is paramount.

The film thunders along with reasonably gripping plot twists, decent performances from Bale and Worthington, and a quirky show from Anton Yelchin who plays a teenage Kyle Reese, but with quite pedestrian dialogue, the actors are not given much to work with. All-out action sequences will keep the young fans happy and older viewers will appreciate the few humorous throw-backs to its legendary predecessors.

This is noisy, gun-toting, high-decibel entertainment at its best and sets the benchmark high for the film’s nearest box office rival, the forthcoming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, due 24th June.

McG manages to restore credibility to this much-loved franchise, taking us on a robot rampage that thankfully terminates the memory of Terminator 3.

[Ozweego]

I got to the first line, where you rated it as 4 out of 5. Based on this rating I could read no further. There was no way in this world that Salvation was a 4 out of 5, 4 out of 10, maybe, but that's even a stretch.

[MisterTwister]

I watched this film 1 week ago and already I cant remember one good moment in it. Possibly the terminator motorbikes was an eyecatching moment but we all saw that in the advert. For some reason a lot of the effects looked B-movie-ish. The terminators walk like theyve had a few pints. The "original terminator" looks like something out of a computer game.

As for the rest of the film, Bale's character is dull. Ditto for the rest of the film as I still cant remember what the storyline was.

McG seems to be flavour of the month with Magazines at the moment. I cant see why. Isnt he only famous for Charlies Angels? Im worried that TF is losing its impartiality to directors who are fashionable or with whom it is chummy. Remember Peter Jackson's King Kong getting 5 stars?

[Grinch11]

Recent attempts to expand a universe so brilliantly created by James “King of the World” Cameron in 1984 have ended with decidedly mixed results. Some might argue that they would send a Schwarzenegger model T-800 to terminate those that greenlit the much maligned Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and the recently cancelled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

So it appears that the titular “Salavation” not only applies to the franchise itself, or our post Judgement Day protagonists, and maybe has the most relevance with the director of such cinematic highs as Charlie’s Angels 1 & 2 and direct-to-dvd American football dud, We Are Marshall. Stop s******ing at the back, you haven’t heard his name yet, McG!!

For the first time the narrative is placed in the ash scorned scenario of the future. All bar a pre-credit sequence featuring enigmatic anti-hero, Marcus (Sam Worthington) being prepped for his final hours on death row. The action then switches to 2018 and a battle ground on which John Connor (Christian Bale) leads the human resistance in a war against the machines. The appearance of Marcus, bereft of memory or self-awareness leads Connor to question his motivations as Skynet prepares its final onslaught on the remnants of mankind.

Terminator: Salvation is as surprisingly exhilarating as it is bone-crushingly disappointing, none-the-less it remains a recommendation for franchise fans and action junkies seeking a fix during the summer months.

The first of many problems is that whilst the audience is presented with recognisable names from the saga’s mythos; Connor (Linda Hamilton even makes an audio cameo), Reese, and a triumphant CGI return to the franchise from its most iconic “governating” face, it never really feels like a Terminator movie.

McG takes the film, visually and structurally in a completely different direction from the original trilogy (and yes, I will class it as that you Rise of the Machine haters out there!), which were simply chase movies on an ever-increasing scale. Don’t expect the intimately hellish vision of conflict aftermath glimpsed in Cameron’s futurescapes, McG gives proceedings a filtered, gulf war style visual palette, that admittedly impresses to the point that you can taste the grit in your mouth, but it isn’t a patch on the laser dominated dystopia that was promised.

More praiseworthy is the decision to drop the pursuit aspect from the narrative so we don’t have to suffer another “Termanatrix” mis-step. Salvation is a fractured story of survivors coming together, it shares many similarities with Lord of the Rings, heck, even Skynet’s base has an eerie Moordor feel to it.

Performances are fine; Worthington gets a large chunk of the screen-time, which despite the odd wobble into his native Aussie tongue he utilises well enough as the stoic hero, and the odd perplexed look makes up for the lack of decent dialogue for the conflicted Marcus. Bale does nothing as impressive as the infamous on-set rant but is more prominent than his bit-part rumour suggested. He is however an improvement on the “man you’d follow into battle” after the whiny incarnations given by Furlong (T2), and Stahl (T3) that made you wonder if it was worth saving this guy after all?

Being a “boys own” movie it’s no surprise that Moon Bloodgood (rushed) and Bryce Dallas-Howard (narrative plot device) get short thrift on the acting and action front.

Sifting through post-apocalyptic debris and shattered endoskeletons, the films real find is fresh from the bridge of the Starship Enterprise, and that’s Anton Yelchin as the young Kyle Reese (formerly genre favourite Michael Biehn). He is the only performer that creates a believable link to the origins of his character, and provides a level of realism and humanity amongst the shouty macho posturing.

Realism, loosely speaking for a film about killer robots, goes out of the window within the opening twenty minutes, something of a pre-requisite when this franchise has moved from Cult Classic to Tentpole Summer Event movie. Since when could any form of this unrepentant, relentless machine be defeated by simply chucking a crowbar at them? McG has the answer and it’s the stuff of Transformers, not a bad thing by any means, just not something that belongs in this filmic universe please.

Even though it isn’t the story we all wanted and something of a pre-cursor to the “great war” hinted at so tantalisingly all them years ago, there are still a few neat touches to admire; the use of Guns ‘n’ Roses on the soundtrack, the unavoidable but borderline cheddarness of Bale uttering “I’ll be back”, and the fantastic reveal of how Connor got his scar. The problem is, and no matter how much you despise the Elton John glasses and “talk to the hand” buffoonery of T3, there isn’t one moment in the whole of Salvation that matches that films depressing denouement.

And final mention must go to Danny Elfman whose score seems to be recycled from the ill-fitting Spider-Man series to such awful effect that it loses the film a star. The signature themes of the franchise are given the briefest of cameos before being trumped by an orchestral onslaught that can only be described as “noise”.

There is some intrigue in the “what is Marcus?” dilemma at the core of the movie, but only a limited amount. What is does have is some of the most expertly handled and under-edited (take note Michael Bay) action sequences this side of summer, but shouldn’t we expect more than that from The Terminator?

3 Star

[britcitchris]

Great review there, Mr Grinch.

Chris.