Terminator Salvation

Tonight was one of those boring nights. Nothing on television, nothing queued in my movie playlist - perfect conditions for rewatching old DVDs stuck in my collection.

First cab off the rank is Terminator Salvation, with Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Bryce Dallas Howard and brief appearances from Helena Bonham Carter.

Now I LOVE the Terminator. Terminator 2 was even better! And although I do love Clare Danes, unfortunately, Terminator 3 was horrible.. (by the way, you should start watching Homeland Season 2!).

[spoilers ahead]


Enter T4, Terminator Salvation. Released in 2009, written by John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris (T3, Catwoman), and directed by McG. FIRST MISTAKE - hiring McG, director of Charlie's Angels and This Means War, to be involved in ANYTHING. This movie required way more love, care and attention than was given. The guys made sure to cheapen (perhaps completely bastardize) the iconic Terminator brand, iconic scenes from the originals and iconic lines of dialogue. When rebooting a well-known film series, DO NOT have John Connor (Christian Bale) say "I'll be back" - this line should breathe life into the nightmares of his childhood, remembering his attempted assassination as a child by a Terminator! Another example, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) saying to Sam Worthington (new, worthless character) "Come with me if you want to live". PLUS nodding to the scene in the original with the Terminator crushing a dry human skull with its foot, with the exact movement replicated in this film. McG. What are you doing. McG... STAHP!

That said, there is one credit that I can give the guy. Brilliant action scenes. The opening scene where, in one continuous shot, John Connor emerges from the huge pit in the ground (prophetic Dark Knight Rises shot?), runs to a helicopter (by the way, you'll see Terry Crews playing "dead soldier" here), pushes a dead guy out of the pilot's seat, and pilots the chopper after the Terminator ship that killed his crew. This continues to show the chopper being shot down and crash landing, with Connor escaping the wreckage (camera rotates with him, love it!) to fight a T-600 to the death. This description doesn't do it justice, so see the scene below:

There are many other scenes that I love. The harvester scene (awesome giant robot sounds), another helicopter crash scene (but into water this time), and the final climactic T-800 fight scene. Google it.

The film follows three storylines that merge into one. The first is John Connor/the Resistance leading the war against the machine. Second is Marcus Wright's (Worthington) battle with awaking in the future and figuring stuff out (developed wayyy to quickly), and third is Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). This movie needs more character development and background, as it feels that alot of these character's motivations just appear out of nowhere.

Unfortunately, this film also suffers from horrid casting syndrome..

• Bryce Dallas Howard. Why here. Why this movie. And why pregnant..? It's a really bad idea to get knocked up after the apocalypse guys... Also looks nothing like Clare Danes. #justsaying
• Helena Bonham Carter. I really hate her little monologue nearing the climax of the film. So bad. Not loving her acting or character in the film. Plus I don't see Tim Burton around....?
• Sam Worthington, the "pre-Hemsworth". Hollywood needed another Australian male actor to lead movies post-Ledger. Unfortunately, the Hemsworth brothers hadn't quite made it yet. Sam's accent, in every movie, slides from Aussie to American to Aussie to British to American, and on and on, same with everything he's done so far in movies. Plus the film's storyline would have worked without his character's role in the film, along with Helena Bonham Carter's character. Not needed.
• Moon Bloodgood. You may have the coolest name outside of the gaming world, but what is your character doing here? Her character needed way more development. She kind of just appears mid-film and tags along with Worthington.

Two more things:

• Terminator motor bikes need to phase out the USB drives installed. John Connor knows how to hack into you....
• CGI graphics can be scary when they film an Austrian bodybuilder as Arnold Schwarzenegger's body double, then a digital mold of Arnold's face is applied to this other guy's body, pulling it off almost seamlessly. See "The Social Network". It blew my mind when I found out they weren't actually twins...

Terminator Salvation really misses its R rating, as the first 2 movies had. It misses the terror and dread that Terminator 1 and 2 had. This movie is a great watch, with brilliantly pulled off action. But man, imagine if it had the allure that the originals had..

I'm really looking forward to Terminator 5. The brand has been put through hell trying to develop the next movie. I really hope T5 returns to form with an R rating and a good director attached.

Whatever happens, I will never get sick of the "daddah dah daddah. Daddah dah daddah" theme. Fantastic.