"Poor addition to the franchise … huge disappointment
"
Set in a post apocalyptic future, the machines have taken over and view humanity as a threat. After wiping out most of the population with a nuclear bombardment, small pockets of humans wage a resistance type war against the machines. John Connor (Christian Bale) is a resistance commander and has more than a small understanding of what the machines are doing. When a situation presents itself to test a new weapon against the machines, that could end the war, he has some hard choices to make. But the resistance are not the only ones that have a new weapon; the machines have created something beyond any Terminator seen before.
The plot will be confusing to anybody who doesn't know the Terminator background. I have tried to explain it multiple times to different people who couldn't remember the other films that well, with a varying amount of success. Plot wise there isn't much to this at all, in fact it looks like they came up with the idea after a few pints down the local pub. There is nothing to the story at all, it doesn't advance the franchise in any real way nor does it set the stage for any future films.
Considering the other films, T1 and T2 were good, T3 was passable. But Terminator Salvation isn't even close to being good; I watched it because somebody said it was more like a war film - all action. But the action is only mildly interesting and is let down by the lack of a good plot. They have forgotten what made the first films so good. One, having a larger than life presence of somebody like Arnold. Hey he might not be the greatest actor in the world, but he has a certain on-screen charisma about him. Having a good story, lots of action, set at a good pace that even though the subject matter (time travel) was complex it was explained easily.
The Kyle Reese concept in this can easily send you mad if you start to think about it too much. He is John Connors father born in the future to be sent back in time by his own son to his eventual death. Yet if John doesn't send his father back, then what .. he ceases to exist. If Kyle dies before going back, he ceases to exist. If Kyle dies between now and whenever, he ceases to exist...
Christian Bale is again way too somber in this film for my liking, similar to his role in Batman The Dark Knight. In fact he could have been called Bruce Wayne and I wouldn't have noticed a difference, apart from the suit was missing. He acted as if the weight of humanity rests heavily on his shoulders. Well to an extent it does, but let's have a reality check here.
What is it that makes us human and different to machines? Emotions right, now that is something the machines have a hard time understanding. Not only that but mixed with emotions are things like optimism and humor. Faced with adversity and overwhelming odds, people still have an inherent capacity to be optimistic and cheerful. If you speak to my Uncle who fought in WWII it was as much about the laughs as it was about the serious aspect of fighting. Because humor and staying cheerful was what pulled you through the seriously bad times.
Nobody in this film had any real emotion, they could have been machines. These guys looked heavily depressed and I wondered why they were bothering to fight at all, they might as well lie down and die. Whether they had a shortage of Prozac, Alcohol, Tobacco, Caffeine or some other stimulant I don't know... but these guys are all on a serious downer. There is no cheer, no real humor; everybody is so somber and serious. They don't even jump up and down for joy or give a holler when they do manage to total one of the machines. Too serious by half which made it unbelievable in a strange way.
It does say something in a film when the star Christian Bale, is eclipsed by another actor. Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright I thought was one of the saving graces in this film. Thank goodness he had a lot of screen time, probably more than Bale but I haven't timed it so don't know for sure. He at least did have a few expressions to his face, fine he was rough and tough but overall I found him to be likable. The plot was a bit obvious with his character, too obvious in fact, but he played the part well I thought. I was a bit peeved with the ending because I thought this character had future possibilities.
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese was annoying, if I had met him and he was my father (sent back into the past to father me) I would have shot him in the head. What would have happened then I don't know, time paradox or something I suppose. But boy oh boy was he just cringe worthy and rather annoying. Michael Biehn played Reese in the original Terminator and although Yelchin had a passing likeness I didn't take to him at all. Too much of a jerk to my mind, compared with the tough soldier we see in The Terminator.
Nobody gave any great performances by any stretch of the imagination. Though it was interesting to see Michael Ironside as one of the resistance commanders, always liked him. Helena Bonham Carter ... blink and you miss her at the beginning. In the titles it does state 'and ... Helena Bonham Carter' it was an 'and' as well. Personally wonder about the point of this to be honest, could have been anybody so why not give somebody new a chance. Just another name to add to the role I suppose, but pointless her being in this film for the short amount of time we see her.
Can't say I was keen on the directing or the editing, the film had no real feel about it. Didn't come across to me as a war film, didn't come across to me as a Terminator film. Considering the iconic status of this series how 'McG' as he likes to be called (Joseph McGinty Nichol) got the role of director I don't know. He should stick to pop videos and trash like Charlie's Angels. This film could have been good just not sure about the Director, or the Writers to be honest. Considering the budget, $200m, this should have been a serious blockbuster film and had the potential (future war) to be brilliant.
I think they made a few mistakes here, one was trying to push the Terminator angle too much when it has gone past it sell by date. This didn't need to a film like the others; this could easily have been a future war film with John Connor at the helm of the resistance. Kyle Reese and Marcus (even though I liked him) didn't need to be there to be honest.
They had the effects and considering how far advanced we are now, compared to the original Terminator back in 80's, it didn't feel like it was at all improved. Perhaps it lacked the visionary expertise of somebody like Stan Winston.
It didn't feel like a Terminator film and out of all the films so far, this is by far the worst. T3 wasn't great, but it held the same idea as the previous two. Terminator Salvation should have been the start of a new series, introducing us to the characters that will take us through the next few films. But honestly none of the characters apart from Marcus appealed to me at all. By trying desperately to cling to the remnants of the previous films, they destroyed what could have been an excellent film. Well excellent with a better Director, Writers, Actors ..........
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