Having waited a long time for the arrival of Terminator Salvation, I was expecting to be very disappointed (the rumours and conjecture surrounding the movie were a smidge bit ominous weren’t they?).
So, trundling nervously into the darkened theatre, I was tasting a fair dollop of deflation before the previews even began to roll.
Many people have compared this movie unfavourably to T3 ROTM, I disagree, though there are more than a few potholes marring the landscape en route to SkyNet, this movie didn’t add to the wounds, the scars left by the previous instalment were untouched by this newest edition to the cyborgic saga (“cyborgic saga”??).
McG has something to be sheepish about. One worry with T4 was the announcement of Mr. McGinty to direct the possible saviour of the cult franchise.
He actually didn’t do too bad a job of directing this movie… it’s just not a Terminator movie, though it does indeed make all the right noises, if not pitch-perfect as feverishly awaited by fans.
The movie is stylish, appealing and quite swish. Seriously.
It’s just not a Terminator movie…
The casting was promising; Christian Bale aimed for that lovely air of “oh f*ck I have to save Mankind” which Edward Furlong gave us in T2 and Nick Stahl tried valiantly to refresh in T3. Perhaps mirrored in T4 by Christian Bale’s millstone,- the need to save something but with the massive weight of responsibility which begs you to empty your pockets and walk away sharpish.
One big setback for Salvation was the character development.
Okay, so they’re in a war and in a situation like that a proper introduction isn’t always possible or necessary, but bloody hell give me a minute to pause and absorb the last piece of information before more carnage! Yes, the writers need to be swiftly removed.
No offence to them, but please stop screwing with Terminator, did you not learn from ROTM? Stop it damn you.
Where was I? The love scene between Marcus Wright and Blair Williams should’ve been left in. Come the end of the film I didn’t feel that romantic connection between Marcus and Blair as I might have done had I seen some emotion between them. The intimacy was needed.
Same with John and Kate, they’re married, baby on the way and they barely touch.
When John came back from losing all his men to SkyNet she should have kissed the man! “thank god you’re alive!” instead it was more like… “good day darling?”
We already knew that Brancato and Ferris weren’t that great with emotion, I mean T3 was hardly zinging with sexual tension was it? You’re talking about humanity!: love, hate. sadness. Mr. Bale managed to emote a flash of guilt with the loss of his men, so where did the rest of the human response go?
Moon’s character could’ve been a strong fiesty woman, but she wasn’t. All of her fight seemed to vanish in the mist the second Marcus was around,- pfft.
Anton Yelchin should have fit the part of Kyle Reese pretty well. A bit more cocky bravado and fighting tooth and nail definitely would have fleshed out the character a lot more, which would have been enough of a glimpse of the transition between the boy and the man to keep us intrigued.
Sam Worthington was at least half believable in Salvation. I know it’s not the done thing but I think his role should have been longer, not shorter. The ending didn’t really gel with the rest of the plot, pardon me, but I liked the idea for the character.
I’ll briefly skim over Barnes (Common) there isn’t much to say is there? The character barely existed on the screen, so yeah he came across as cardboard. Can he seriously be blamed? I’m not sure.
… Michael Ironside eh? Dear dear me, one of these days maybe he’ll survive the end of a movie.
Poor Terry Crewes, aka “Barnes’ brother”, McG couldn’t spare more screen time?
And … Arnold! *girlish scream* The CGI was cartoon-ish and almost brutishly thrown in for extra measure, adding little to the experience but the knowledge that Arnold didn’t care to be present himself.
The new Terminators were an interesting concept and if used properly would have added to the story and transition of SkyNet but there should’ve been more, you know? I wanted more Infantry, more threat of attack from the foot soldiers. More! Could you imagine seeing an army of T-600’s marching toward you with their dead eyes and that buzzing sound? It would be freakin’ awesome!
Summary:
Not really a Terminator movie.
