Well time for the last of my posts on the Terminator films, which will cover Terminator Salvation, which is the latest in the series, which would finally see the film set in the future when Skynet and the machines run the world. So without further ado let's have a look at it....
The film begins in 2018, in the future when John Connor (Christian Bale) has taken up the mantle of the leader of the resistance against the machines. John attacks a Skynet base and finds schematics of human prisoners and what appears to be terminators made with living human tissue. John returns to the resistance headquarters which is situated on a nuclear submarine, where he tells General Ashdown (Michael Ironside) of his discovery. The resistance then find a radio signal which they believe when transmitted can shut down the machines, and they plan to launch an attack against the Skynet base. This is in response to receiving a kill list that indicates that Skynet plan to kill the resistance command staff within a week, of which one of the names on the list is John's, and another is Kyle Reese. Meanwhile a man called Marcus (Sam Worthington) arrives in the ruins of Los Angeles and is attacked by a T-600 terminator, but he is rescued by a young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). It is revealed that Marcus was in fact a criminal who was sentenced to death years ago, by lethal injection, but he signed an agreement to leave his body to medical research, as a result it is revealed that Marcus is in fact part cyborg from the medical resarch that was done to him. Kyle tells Marcus of the future and Skynet, which he is unaware of, but they are soon attacked by more machines, and Kyle is soon captured by one of them. The film eventually leads towards Marcus and John trying to find and rescue Kyle from the Skynet machines so the future of humanity will be ensured.
Terminator Salvation it has to be said is the weakest entry in the Terminator films, although it is entertaining to an extent, but the characters in the film are not that interesting or three dimensional (perhaps one and a half at best!). The tone of the film while it is suitably grim to the backdrop of the bleak future, it also makes for a somewhat dreary watch at times. However visually the film is quite impressive and there are some very good action sequences in there, especially in the scene where Marcus and Kyle try to escape the clutches of the Skynet machines who chase them on the road. Another highlight is of course later on when John manages to locate Kyle at the Skynet base and before he can get him, he is attacked by a very familiar looking T-800 terminator!
However part of the problem I have with the film is with the casting, in particular I think Christian Bale as John Connor was miscast, as he doesn't really quite suit the role. Bale goes around almost a la like Batman without the outfit, speaking in a low gruff voice, and for me he just doesn't give the right impact the role of John Connor really needs. Although I do like the scene where he fights with the Terminator at the end who scars his face with its metal hand and is about to finish him off and he shouts "Do it you son of a bitch!!!!". Anton Yelchin however does fare better as the young Kyle Reese, but for me once again they keep borrowing from the dialogue of the first two films, especially in the first scene when he meets Marcus and he says "come with me if you want to live". At this point it feels just a bit cringingly self referential to the first film, although perhaps its something Kyle said to everyone he met that he rescued at that time! And Sam Worthington, who it has to be said isn't the best actor in the world, but he does ok in his role as Marcus, playing the key role of a former criminal, who was turned into part cyborg after his death, and he still has his human heart, and he plays his part in some of the film's good action scenes.
But in all these roles all the characters are pretty dreary and they don't offer a great deal in terms of humour or interest (it is set in bleak times of course, but still!). Moon Bloodgood (now there is a name!) whom I didn't mention in the plot summary is not bad as Blair Williams, a tough pilot who forms a bond with Marcus, but again her character is underwritten and there is not much room for development. And finally Michael Ironside, who is forever reliable provides a fine cameo performance as General Ashdown, the leader of the resistance, and its a pity he isn't in the film for long, as clearly he's better than just about anyone else!
The director McG (who directed such classy films as Charlie's Angels!) actually does a fairly decent job here, particularly with the action sequences, which as I previously mentioned are very well done and fairly suspenseful. Although one of the more memorable aspects of this film was during its production where Christian Bale threw a hissy fit at the film's director of photography, Shane Hurlbut, who made the bad decision of walking on set while he was in the middle of doing an intense scene. Bale's rant is of course available on Youtube for a listen, and he is out of order and comes across like a real dick during it, especially when he says "I'll kick your fucking ass! No don't just say sorry, THINK FOR ONE SECOND!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING????!". And the most bizzare thing about it is how his accent changes between American and cockney English during his diatribe. To be fair though Bale later apologised publicly on radio saying he acted like "a punk" in regards to his outburst.
So that's it for Terminator Salvation, its not a bad film, but its not a great one either, and it does have its good points, especially in regards to its action scenes, but as a whole its not an entirely satisfying follow up to Terminator 3. However I'm sure they will come up with another film to move the saga further on in the future.
And with that, I shall say bye the now, and I'll be back..... later.
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