Luckily for the “Terminator” franchise, the time travel part allows them to have the best of both worlds, giving them the opportunity to move forward, detracting from repeating the same story over and over into the parts of its back-story.
We rejoin the action previously
set in motion, it’s the year 2018, which is about 14 years since Judgment Day
finally arrived at the end of “Terminator 3.” John Connor, played by Christian
Bale, has finally become the man we were told he was going to in “The
Terminator” long ago. He’s a bold and confident warrior, a leader of men
(Starnes mentioned, “not THE leader he was supposed to be, because Hollywood
doesn’t believe in action films where the hero isn’t butting heads with a
superior, but whatever”). It’s not that far in the future as flashbacks from
the previous films are shown, but it’s far enough that the robots have taken
over whatever that is left, forcing humans into smaller and smaller areas as
they try and fight back with whatever weapons they can find.
Starnes praised that, “There’s some fantastic craftsmanship at work, especially in the film’s opening and closing action sequences, as John Connor leads a team into an underground facility Skynet has been guarding in the Nevada desert, and then later sneaks into Skynet itself. Unfortunately, the middle of the film is a bit dodgier.”
It’s always a question when the original creator leaves a series, especially when it’s the writer-director who leaves, leaving it in the hands of producers who are only interested in business potential and not telling a story. We’ve already left behind who the films are originally about long ago – Linda Hamilton – as they became more about Arnold Schwarzenegger being emotionless and tough. To be fair, that started when Cameron was director. Now we don’t have Schwarzenegger anymore, either, and you could be forgiven for expecting the producers to just try and recreate as many moments from the original films as they could within the material they’ve got. They actually do (right up to a return of the Guns ‘N Roses song that was so noticeable in “Terminator 2”), but I don’t think I would say that no real thought has gone into it.
In many ways, quite a lot of thought has gone into it. Screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferries really get the theme of the human heart overpowering the machines. In fact they’re pretty accurate about the idea. They understand how the emotional side of Connor’s character should play out, what Skynet’s plan is, and especially how the climax (which is, thankfully, the strongest part of the film) fits into everything that’s come before. The problem is, that’s only true for one of the films, because “Terminator Salvation” is actually two movies.
A convicted murder on death row, Marcus leaves his body of science on the night of Judgment Day, only to wake up 15 years later in the same lab Connor was looking at the beginning of the film followed shortly by some kind of road action across the California wasteland and as he and young Kyle Reese, played by Anton Yelchin, try to find John Connor, who they don’t know is real.
The idea of Marcus isn’t that bad. Starnes said, “Thematically, he fits right in with the “Demon with a Glass Hand” inspiration that lead to the original Terminator.” The problem is I don’t care about him and is there any reason why? He’s just a generic macho man doing generic macho man things. All the emotional unwillingness is with John Connor. He’s the person these stories have supposedly been about, how he saves the world from the Terminators. Starnes complained, “Throwing a brand new person into that mix and trying to say he has equal weight in this story is a pretty tall order, I don’t care how many people he beats up.” It doesn’t matter how many scenes he has with Moon Bloodgood, who does play a good action heroine, his story is completely heartless.
It doesn’t help that Sam Worthington is sadly bland as an actor. Schwarzenegger got away with it because he was supposed to be emotionless (which, really, was one of his strengths). Marcus isn’t supposed to be emotionless. He just comes across as that.
However, I will say it does look great being a bit desert heavy. ILM has done another amazing job, as has Shane Hurlbut. There’s a fantastic work of trickery early on as a cameraman walks up to a helicopter, hangs onto the side of it as Connor flies into the air, pulls out to look at it as it flies out of control before rushing back into the cockpit as it crashes, all in one take. There are also a handful of excellent action sequences, especially the finale as Marcus finally learns how he became who he is and John Connor goes head-to-head with a T-800 with Schwarzenegger’s CGI face.
Actually, if the last half-hour weren’t as strong as they are, it would probably be a much worse film, but a strong ending can make up for a lot, even if some of the final fight is a tad long. Starnes admitted, “Yes, the Terminators are unstoppable killing machines that just keep coming and coming no matter what you do to them, but there comes a point where that sort of thing stops being scary and starts being ludicrous, and McG goes screaming right past it.”
I agree with Starnes when he said, “It’s a lot better than it probably should have been, but having too leads the way they have is a horrible albatross ’bout the neck.” It can work, but it does require both characters to be equally important, and that’s just not what it is here. Maybe if they’d both spent a lot of time together, but they actually only get a few scenes, and that’s not enough to convince that Marcus Wright is worth caring about and cheering for.
Good action scenes will satisfy the “Terminator” fans and lots of throwbacks to “Terminator” films of long ago will make the “Terminator” fans happy. There are actually parts of a good movie in here, but the focus is in the wrong place. It really needed some more thinking about how all the parts would fit together. Starnes concluded by saying, “Still, it’s better than the TV show.” Since I never saw the TV show, I wouldn’t know, but I do think it’s better than the third film. Also, Bryce Dallas Howard portrays Kate in this movie.
In the end, I would probably give this film a 7/10. You got great action scenes, nice little touches to the previous movies, a new kind of story, great characters and finally a look into the future that they talked about in the previous films. Since this is set in the present time and no Terminator is sent back to kill John Connor, I like this addition. Only problem I have is that they still cheated the mythology, which wasn’t needed. Also, there are moments where Christian Bale sounded like he was going to turn into Batman. I guess since he had done "The Dark Knight" the previous year, his vocal chords must have been use to that, so that might explain why.
Well, we are almost done with “Terminator Month.” I just have to find a day to see the new movie before next week so I can tell everyone what I thought about it. Stay tuned.
Starnes praised that, “There’s some fantastic craftsmanship at work, especially in the film’s opening and closing action sequences, as John Connor leads a team into an underground facility Skynet has been guarding in the Nevada desert, and then later sneaks into Skynet itself. Unfortunately, the middle of the film is a bit dodgier.”
It’s always a question when the original creator leaves a series, especially when it’s the writer-director who leaves, leaving it in the hands of producers who are only interested in business potential and not telling a story. We’ve already left behind who the films are originally about long ago – Linda Hamilton – as they became more about Arnold Schwarzenegger being emotionless and tough. To be fair, that started when Cameron was director. Now we don’t have Schwarzenegger anymore, either, and you could be forgiven for expecting the producers to just try and recreate as many moments from the original films as they could within the material they’ve got. They actually do (right up to a return of the Guns ‘N Roses song that was so noticeable in “Terminator 2”), but I don’t think I would say that no real thought has gone into it.
In many ways, quite a lot of thought has gone into it. Screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferries really get the theme of the human heart overpowering the machines. In fact they’re pretty accurate about the idea. They understand how the emotional side of Connor’s character should play out, what Skynet’s plan is, and especially how the climax (which is, thankfully, the strongest part of the film) fits into everything that’s come before. The problem is, that’s only true for one of the films, because “Terminator Salvation” is actually two movies.
A convicted murder on death row, Marcus leaves his body of science on the night of Judgment Day, only to wake up 15 years later in the same lab Connor was looking at the beginning of the film followed shortly by some kind of road action across the California wasteland and as he and young Kyle Reese, played by Anton Yelchin, try to find John Connor, who they don’t know is real.
The idea of Marcus isn’t that bad. Starnes said, “Thematically, he fits right in with the “Demon with a Glass Hand” inspiration that lead to the original Terminator.” The problem is I don’t care about him and is there any reason why? He’s just a generic macho man doing generic macho man things. All the emotional unwillingness is with John Connor. He’s the person these stories have supposedly been about, how he saves the world from the Terminators. Starnes complained, “Throwing a brand new person into that mix and trying to say he has equal weight in this story is a pretty tall order, I don’t care how many people he beats up.” It doesn’t matter how many scenes he has with Moon Bloodgood, who does play a good action heroine, his story is completely heartless.
It doesn’t help that Sam Worthington is sadly bland as an actor. Schwarzenegger got away with it because he was supposed to be emotionless (which, really, was one of his strengths). Marcus isn’t supposed to be emotionless. He just comes across as that.
However, I will say it does look great being a bit desert heavy. ILM has done another amazing job, as has Shane Hurlbut. There’s a fantastic work of trickery early on as a cameraman walks up to a helicopter, hangs onto the side of it as Connor flies into the air, pulls out to look at it as it flies out of control before rushing back into the cockpit as it crashes, all in one take. There are also a handful of excellent action sequences, especially the finale as Marcus finally learns how he became who he is and John Connor goes head-to-head with a T-800 with Schwarzenegger’s CGI face.
Actually, if the last half-hour weren’t as strong as they are, it would probably be a much worse film, but a strong ending can make up for a lot, even if some of the final fight is a tad long. Starnes admitted, “Yes, the Terminators are unstoppable killing machines that just keep coming and coming no matter what you do to them, but there comes a point where that sort of thing stops being scary and starts being ludicrous, and McG goes screaming right past it.”
I agree with Starnes when he said, “It’s a lot better than it probably should have been, but having too leads the way they have is a horrible albatross ’bout the neck.” It can work, but it does require both characters to be equally important, and that’s just not what it is here. Maybe if they’d both spent a lot of time together, but they actually only get a few scenes, and that’s not enough to convince that Marcus Wright is worth caring about and cheering for.
Good action scenes will satisfy the “Terminator” fans and lots of throwbacks to “Terminator” films of long ago will make the “Terminator” fans happy. There are actually parts of a good movie in here, but the focus is in the wrong place. It really needed some more thinking about how all the parts would fit together. Starnes concluded by saying, “Still, it’s better than the TV show.” Since I never saw the TV show, I wouldn’t know, but I do think it’s better than the third film. Also, Bryce Dallas Howard portrays Kate in this movie.
In the end, I would probably give this film a 7/10. You got great action scenes, nice little touches to the previous movies, a new kind of story, great characters and finally a look into the future that they talked about in the previous films. Since this is set in the present time and no Terminator is sent back to kill John Connor, I like this addition. Only problem I have is that they still cheated the mythology, which wasn’t needed. Also, there are moments where Christian Bale sounded like he was going to turn into Batman. I guess since he had done "The Dark Knight" the previous year, his vocal chords must have been use to that, so that might explain why.
Well, we are almost done with “Terminator Month.” I just have to find a day to see the new movie before next week so I can tell everyone what I thought about it. Stay tuned.
Very strong Original review. A lot of people seemed devided on which is bettter this or the third. I thought you were very thourough. I like you did like the themes the film attempted to adress. The tragic background of Marcus and his redemption and relationship with Kyle were compelling to me. I agree it had an exciting final. I also agree John should have had more focus and that he should have lead the resistance.
ReplyDeleteI liked your points on John`s character. I also do think they hurt the continueity even more, with Skynet somehow knowing in advance how important John is, and with the T800`s being developped much earlier, and also with John forgetting his friendship with the T-800.
To answer you about know John was important in advance might be explained in the fifth movie, if you have seen it. If not, than wait for the DVD because it's really not worth wasting money on going to the theaters for. I just really hope that if they plan on making more Terminator movies, than they go back to what James Cameron did in the second one, which is John being friends with the Terminator.
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