Terminator Salvation Reviewed!

I took a friend of mine to a press screening of Terminator Salvation tonight and when we finally left I asked her a question – “Describe Terminator Salvation in two words.”

The film stars Christian Bale as John Conner, Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright and Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reece, the film is directed by McG. The movie takes audiences into the year 2018. Skynet has long since launched its terrible attack against the human race and those that have survived fight a terrible war against an army of machines. John Connor, guided by his mother, is fighting to live up to his own destiny while the powers that be believe him to be an impostor and he finds himself fighting alone to save his own father and ultimately, himself.

Terminator Salvation also introduces us to Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), an American who goes from death row in the year 2003 right into the middle of the war. Not knowing how he got there or what has happened, Marcus finds himself charged with the protection of a young Kyle Reece and his younger companion Star. When Reece and Star are captured by the machines, Marcus leaves on a mission to save them, it’s on his mission that he comes face to face with the legendary John Connor, and finds out a terrible truth about himself in the process.

One of the first things I noticed about this film is that they’ve bravely taken the decision to do away with the classic Terminator theme. Sure the “dum dum dum, dum dum” is still there, but overall the soundtrack is entirely different from its three predecessors.

This led me to thinking about where the series has come since the first Terminator film was released in 1984, and I do believe that the property has now come full circle. This film is so obviously the beginning of something new, it’s a new franchise and it’s taking us somewhere we have never been before in this story – right into the middle of a warzone. Sure the previous instalments have alluded to this all along, but now it’s here and it’s certainly not going away.

As a result of this we find ourselves with a film that not only packs a lot more action, but does it on a far grander scale than any previous Terminator movie has ever done. Entire buildings are levelled and entire cities are populated by a machine army intent on our destruction. The downside? There’s not a lot of room left for storytelling.

Sure the central plot is fantastic, and I was impressed on more than one occasion while I watched the story unfold on screen, but there is no real character development. We never really learn who Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) was, or what her connection is with Skynet other than the fact she worked for Cyberdyne Systems. Did she create it? Was she a cyborg? Was she perfectly innocent? These questions are never really addressed. Kate Connor walks around with the “Mount Everest” of baby bumps, but I don’t think I ever once heard her or John mention it. Surely pregnancy is important? Especially when the baby is growing in the middle of all -out war?

The special effects in Terminator Salvation are astounding, the level of detail the production team have delved into to illustrate the various models of Terminator and the world in which these characters live is flawless. The prime example is of course Arnold Schwarzenegger’s CGI cameo as the Cyberdyne Systems Model T-800 in the final act. I was pleased to find his cameo is slightly longer than I expected, probably amounting to around 3 or 4 minutes of screen time, and apart from the fact that he look a little bulkier than he did in the first movie, this is without a doubt the Arnie of 1984!

This quality and attention to detail also transfers over to the action scenes as well, of which there are plenty, with each scene perfectly choreographed. A perfect example is when Marcus Wright dispatches of four or five men about 40 minutes into the film, it’s a bone-crunching scene that somehow manages to maintain a macho level of grace to it, very much akin to the first “Matrix” film.

Christian Bale takes a brilliant turn as John Connor, and much like I expected he plays the role with his usual gusto as the tortured soldier carrying the weight of the world. But the real star of the film is without a doubt Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright. Watching the two of them on screen is fantastic, the only problem is I started wondering how Sam would’ve turned out as the Batman (pretty damn good I’d imagine). Marcus is without a doubt the primary character of the piece, John Connor exists around him, although that’s not to say that both don’t have almost equal screentime. But Worthington is certainly one to keep an eye out for, I predict this guy will be huge in years to come.

So in short, this is definitely a good movie. I enjoyed finally seeing the future war play out on the big screen and I enjoyed even more watching Christian Bale as the mythical John Connor. So why has this film had some negative reviews?

My friend Michelle summed it up nicely. When I asked her to describe this film in two words, those words were “action” and “explosions” , as I said this is an entirely different kind of film. Terminator Salvation takes us into the middle of a warzone, and where there’s war there’s not a lot of time for anything else. If this film were a Terminator it would be an infiltrator, completely different to anything you’ve ever seen before. So when you watch this movie please don’t try to compare it to the first two instalments, the human race is at war – so do you really think they have a lot of time to stand around chatting? If you’re looking for action then this is one damn good film! If it’s character depth you’re after then move along please.