Saturday 22 August 2009

Terminator Salvation



‘Terminator Salvation’ sees the first film in the Terminator series to be set during the machine war that the first 3 films were trying to prevent. We see John Connor (this time played by Batman - Christian Bale) trying to work out how to win the seemingly impossible war for the humans and we get introduced to Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a death row convict who signs his life over to Skynet after his presumed death by lethal injection. Another nice addition to the story is the young Kyle Reece (Anton Yelchin) who we already know grows up to be the father of John Connor. We learn many things about Kyle, such as how he grew up to be the man we saw in the original terminator movie and we wonder how John will end up sending him back in time.

The special effects really are something in this movie. Due to the fact of this movie being set during the war, we see more explosions, gun battles and psychotic machines than any of the previous films and all the set pieces are breathtaking. Also, scenes when the terminators are chasing the resistance you really do get the feeling that if they do catch you they won’t toy with you and maybe let you go, they are searching to kill.

However, with all the praise on CGI, the same can’t be said about the acting or plot of this movie. Many of the characters seem pointless and totally unneeded for the film, such as John Connor’s wife, Kate who may as well have not been in the film. The plot sags in the middle and has a predictable ending which gives the impression that the makers are already thinking about a possible sequel. This is one of the films that is definitely ruined by the makers need to leave the story open so you have to buy another ticket as oppose to letting the audience have a great full experience and then demanding you make more.

Overall, I reasonably enjoyed the film, with its great special effects that really need to be seen on the big screen and ok story. The choice of Christian Bale as the lead will split the vote for many and after his outburst that was famously caught on set you can see why. My personal highlight of a seemingly average film was the CGI cameo of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I won’t ruin it for people but it really is something.

Rating – 5.8/10

Final Thoughts - An ok offering from the director of the Charlie’s Angels films that is better than T3 but doesn’t even come close to the greatness of the James Cameron movies.

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