Terminator Salvation

After watching Terminator Salvation, I went to chat with a friend who was working at a nearby store. He wasked me what I liked about the film, and one of the complements I gave was that the action sequences were competently edited and easy to follow. I had to stop myself short there and think about what I just said. Was I really admiring a movie for allowing me to get a clear look at what was going on? Indeed, I was. In this day and age of Michael Bay and rapid-fire editing styles, the fact that director McG (best known for the Charlie's Angels films) allowed my brain enough time to comprehend what was going on during the intense moments seemed like a blessing.

It's a blessing in more ways than one, since Terminator Salvation is easily the most action-heavy film in the franchise. While the previous entries weren't exactly deep on any level, they did wrap themselves up in complex time travel storylines and paradoxes. This one keeps things fairly simple. Aside from a prologue set in a prison in 2003, the action is rooted entirely in the futuristic battle fields of 2018, as the human resistance battle for survival against the deadly and tyranical machines and robots that are hunting the post-apocalyptic Earth for human survivors, then gathering them up and slaughtering them like cattle. We don't get to see much human suffering, as the film is PG-13 (a first for the franchise, which has been R up to this point), but the movie still keeps things at a dark and sinister level, so it never feels like the thing's been toned down too much. The body count in this movie is mainly robotic anyway, so the rating makes sense.

We learn early on that the human resistance has stumbled upon a technology that could help turn the tide against the machines. The higher ups of the resistance want to use it right away to stage a massive attack against Skynet (the central computer at the head of the machine army), but lead soldier John Connor (Christian Bale) has reservations, due to the humans being held hostage within the complex that's set to be bombed. In a parallel plot, a man by the name of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) has awakened in the middle of the post-apocalyptic battle with no real memory of who he is. He is eventually joined by a teenage resistance fighter named Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and his child companion Star (Jadagrace). Reese is the obvious focus of the movie, and those who have seen the original Terminator film already know why. As for Star, she brings nothing to the story or the film, nor does she have any dialogue (she's written as being mute for reasons unexplained), so we'd probably be better off without her. The three head out to look for Connor and the other rebels, after hearing a radio broadcast that John sends out to any human survivors.

Compared to the previous films, Terminator Salvation can come across as aimless, as the heroes stumble into one action sequence after another. It's not until Marcus arrives at the resistance base that the plot finally kicks in and things finally start to get interesting. This may be escapism popcorn entertainment, and while it's not a great example, it's pretty decent summer entertainment. I'd rank it below Star Trek, but above X-Men Origins: Wolverine. (Last weekend's Angels & Demons doesn't even register.) Even if the plot doesn't always grab us, the production values and technical work does. Many of the action sequences manage to generate a certain amount of tension (even if the robots do seem to be a bit too fond of jumping out at people or shooting blindly at them, which makes me wonder how they managed to take over the world in the first place), and are well executed. The special effect work is also wonderful, with a wide variety of mechanical menaces for the human actors to grapple with. In fact, if there is a problem with the plot, it's that there never seems to be a central villain figure this time around, and we keep on waiting for one of these cool machines to take center stage. For my money, the towering robot that captures and harvests humans gets my vote for the most impressive opponent, although I did like the motorcycle robots also.

You'll notice that I've gone this far into the review without mentioning the absence of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who headlined all the previous films. Well, he does make a brief appearance in a sneaky digital way, and it's easily the highlight of a very impressive final half. But what of the rest of the cast? Christian Bale is appropriately intense as John Connor, even if he does have the nasty habit of growling some of his lines when it's not appropriate. It's Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin who get the most screen time, and so they are able to able to create the biggest impact with us. Worthington especially handles a tricky role quite expertly, especially since he's a relative newcomer. The main disappointments come from the female cast members, especially Bryce Dallas Howard, who has her talents wasted in the minor role of John's wife, Kate, and is reduced to doing nothing but standing in the background, holding her pregnant stomach for most of her scenes. Also disappointing is Moon Bloodgood who, despite having a somewhat sizable role as a soldier working for Connor, doesn't quite stand out as much as it should.

Walking into Terminator Salvation, I decided I would judge it both as an individual film and as part of the series. As a film, it's a little bit hollow, but has certainly been made with quite a bit of skill. It's certainly been made with more skill than most movies that are on their fourth sequel. As to how well it fits into the franchise, there are plenty of nods to the earlier films in the dialogue, and even in the music score by Danny Elfman. Overall, it needs to be judged as the popcorn entertainment it is. On this level, slight as it is, it succeeds. I may have a hard time remembering it a few months from now, but at least I'll remember having fun while watching it.

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