Zeonprime
IreneTake two time paradoxes and call me in the morning
June 1st 2009 02:04
My wife and I have seen every Terminator film: we're pretty familiar with 1984's inspired B-movie The Terminator, the ultimate Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the poorly executed Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and now we reach Terminator Salvation. Buzz for this film coupled with advanced scenes showing in theatres prompted great hope for the movie, which was quite possibly the franchise's salvation, so to speak. But with a disappointing opening weekend (a paltry $43 million for North America) a follow-up Terminator release helmed by McG seems unlikely. While I truly believe that the cast, crew and production staff placed a great deal of effort into the film, I rest the blame for the overall lackluster movie squarely on the studio, McG, and his editing team.
The three previous films in the series followed a near-identical formula: the machine collective, Skynet, sends a terminator back in time to eliminate the threat in its nascent form. The human resistance sends a protector back in time to save that target. This formula worked very well in The Terminator and T2, and to a lesser extent in T3. But McG's version drastically alters this formula. No longer are we observing events in the present, but in the near future, jumping off from where events ended in T3. The apocalypse prophesied in the first three movies comes to pass and protagonist John Connor is a leader in a resistance cell based near San Francisco (another departure from the previous films as John Connor had been based in Los Angeles). The adult John Connor (Christian Bale) is part of a greater global human resistance lead by surviving military commanders. The machines are collecting surviving humans into concentration camps and have begun to target leaders of the resistance for termination.
This movie also shows Skynet's attempts to create infiltration terminators (the Arnold Schwarzenegger variation), whereas up to this point the use of the terminators was to draw in humans from a distance. Many of these points are established in The Terminator by Kyle Reese when he briefs Sarah Connor on the future, and I have to give McG credit for trying to stay true to what James Cameron established. Enter Marcus (Sam Worthington), a convicted murder who was executed in the early 21st century prior to Judgment Day. Marcus wakes up in 2018 to find the world he knew gone and with no understanding of how he ends up alive. Events take us to Los Angeles and introduce us to other various Skynet machines such as the Transformer-esque harvester, the moto-terminators, the rubber-skinned T-600s, and the hunter-killer jets. The special and practical effects teams really bring these creations into our world effectively. Connor becomes the de facto leader of the resistance, exposing the truth behind Marcus's resurrection and keeping the timeline intact so that Connor doesn't fade from existence like Marty McFly. Far from being a simple story, the movie is packed with supporting characters whose unfortunate task is simply to help move the story towards its predictable end.
Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) probably has the most character development in the film (which isn't saying much). We first meet him as he saves Marcus from a T-600 terminator. Kyle is being shadowed by the presumably orphaned mute girl whose role echoes that of Sarah Connor, young John Connor, and Kate Brewster in the first three films: reload, stay out of the way, and trigger larger demolition devices. I found the character tolerable simply because McG was wise enough to make her mute. I for one would have been horrified for yet another movie to use a wisecracking child who saves the day.
While Reese has yet to meet his son, he already idealises him via Connor's radio broadcasts and desperately wants to meet the messiah. Connor is called to task on his destiny by a resistance soldier played by the ever-cool Michael Ironside, who deserved more screen time than he got. Bale's Connor is perpetually self-doubting and needs constant reassurance from the recordings his dead mother Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton in an audio-only role). It seems that Connor's characterization ended up on the editing room floor.
My final assessment--Terminator Salvation ties into the existing Terminator mythology very well, but unfortunately it is an otherwise mediocre film.
The three previous films in the series followed a near-identical formula: the machine collective, Skynet, sends a terminator back in time to eliminate the threat in its nascent form. The human resistance sends a protector back in time to save that target. This formula worked very well in The Terminator and T2, and to a lesser extent in T3. But McG's version drastically alters this formula. No longer are we observing events in the present, but in the near future, jumping off from where events ended in T3. The apocalypse prophesied in the first three movies comes to pass and protagonist John Connor is a leader in a resistance cell based near San Francisco (another departure from the previous films as John Connor had been based in Los Angeles). The adult John Connor (Christian Bale) is part of a greater global human resistance lead by surviving military commanders. The machines are collecting surviving humans into concentration camps and have begun to target leaders of the resistance for termination.
This movie also shows Skynet's attempts to create infiltration terminators (the Arnold Schwarzenegger variation), whereas up to this point the use of the terminators was to draw in humans from a distance. Many of these points are established in The Terminator by Kyle Reese when he briefs Sarah Connor on the future, and I have to give McG credit for trying to stay true to what James Cameron established. Enter Marcus (Sam Worthington), a convicted murder who was executed in the early 21st century prior to Judgment Day. Marcus wakes up in 2018 to find the world he knew gone and with no understanding of how he ends up alive. Events take us to Los Angeles and introduce us to other various Skynet machines such as the Transformer-esque harvester, the moto-terminators, the rubber-skinned T-600s, and the hunter-killer jets. The special and practical effects teams really bring these creations into our world effectively. Connor becomes the de facto leader of the resistance, exposing the truth behind Marcus's resurrection and keeping the timeline intact so that Connor doesn't fade from existence like Marty McFly. Far from being a simple story, the movie is packed with supporting characters whose unfortunate task is simply to help move the story towards its predictable end.
Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) probably has the most character development in the film (which isn't saying much). We first meet him as he saves Marcus from a T-600 terminator. Kyle is being shadowed by the presumably orphaned mute girl whose role echoes that of Sarah Connor, young John Connor, and Kate Brewster in the first three films: reload, stay out of the way, and trigger larger demolition devices. I found the character tolerable simply because McG was wise enough to make her mute. I for one would have been horrified for yet another movie to use a wisecracking child who saves the day.
While Reese has yet to meet his son, he already idealises him via Connor's radio broadcasts and desperately wants to meet the messiah. Connor is called to task on his destiny by a resistance soldier played by the ever-cool Michael Ironside, who deserved more screen time than he got. Bale's Connor is perpetually self-doubting and needs constant reassurance from the recordings his dead mother Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton in an audio-only role). It seems that Connor's characterization ended up on the editing room floor.
My final assessment--Terminator Salvation ties into the existing Terminator mythology very well, but unfortunately it is an otherwise mediocre film.
| 33 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
