Movie Review: Terminator Salvation – 2009 (2/5 stars)
Director: McG
Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Common, Helena Bonham Carter, Moon Bloodgood, Michael Ironside
The first film in the franchise, creator James Cameron’s “Terminator” (1984), is a classic example of an impressive imagination combined with talented filmmaking. Its sequel “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991), once again written and directed by Cameron, is widely regarded as one of the best movies ever made in the science fiction genre. Unfortunately, the series seemed to die down with the mediocrity that was “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (2003). In hopes to revitalize a highly respected and admired storyline, director McG added his own chapter, “Terminator Salvation”(2009). The film surprisingly had a significant amount of backing and support prior to its release, especially after lead casting choices like Christian Bale (arguably the best actor of our generation) and talented rookie Sam Worthington, who was recommended to McG by James Cameron himself. However, despite having some noteworthy performances at his disposal, McG fails to deliver a film that produces the same type of balance between impressive action and a strong plot achieved by the first two installments.
This movie is made up almost entirely of action sequences, pitting man against machine in the year 2018. John Connor (Bale), who is not yet the leader of the resistance and “messiah” type character we are used to hearing about in the past films, is emerging as a respected ranking soldier who commands the faith and trust of those surrounding him. He is faced with a new and terrifying challenge however, with the emergence of Marcus Wright (Worthington), a misunderstood convicted serial killer from the past that volunteered his body to a new “life saving” military program helmed by a dieing scientist (Helena Bonham Carter). Wright finally wakes up 15 years later in Los Angeles (well at least a post apocalyptic ghost town version of Los Angeles), only to find that his body has been mutilated and conjoined with a cyborg skeleton and heartbeat so strong that you can annoyingly hear it at random points during conversations. For some reason, John is at first hostile towards his new friend and is hesitant to trust that Marcus truly wants to help the human cause, although it could be because machines have been trying to kill him and his family since he was a preteen.
For me personally, the highlight of the film was Schwarzenegger’s cameo as the naked robot body builder we all know and love. Perhaps I should say partial cameo, as this is his only appearance in the film and it is achieved unfortunately without any dialogue and through the use of really cheap anti-aging CGI. While Arnold obviously could not be more involved (due to some other important job he has), the movie experience is just not as fun or enjoyable without the man who helped launch the franchise. To make matters worse, Arnold’s iconic “I’ll be back” line was uttered by the Kyle Reese character (Anton Yelchin), in a scene that was received by the audience surrounding me with a few sighs and a good number of laughs.
As for the performances, while Bale is undoubtedly the best actor in the lineup, the true scene stealing is achieved by Australian newcomer Sam Worthington, who I can guarantee we will be seeing a lot more of in the near future. Most of the other characters seem almost useless and forgettable, excluding perhaps those played by Moon Bloodgood and Anton Yelchin (who I am not usually a fan of), and it was nice to see classic scumbag Michael Ironside back on the big screen. Most of the running time is occupied by shooting or chase sequences that seem as if they were plucked out of a video game, a problem that can be attributed to poor directing. McG’s track record is not too impressive (“We Are Marshall” and “Charlie’s Angels”) and from the moment he was announced as director I realized that this film would encompass a lack of intelligent ideas that the filmmakers hoped would be eclipsed by a barrage of explosions. It didn’t work.