Terminator Salvation (movie review)

This may be the only movie in all of the history of mankind that can be known both as a sequel and a prequel. I guess you can call it a sprequel.

McG, whose name fits more with McDonald’s characters than with serious directors, directed this new installment of the Terminator franchise. And even though it has some serious flaws, I have to give them credit on a few things:

1. Casting was good. Notice I said casting, not necessarily acting or dialogue. Christian Bale is a good choice for John Connor. He is the top of the heap of action stars so it makes sense to cast him as the lead in one of the most beloved action franchises of all time. Anton Yelchin was a good choice for a young Kyle Reese. Although he was better as Checkov in another summer blockbuster, Star Trek, he had way more screen time in this movie. Bryce Dallas Howard is great in just about everything I’ve seen her in and Moon Bloodgood is a star on the rise. Sam Worthington, however, stole every scene he was in and, in my opinion could have made an even better John Connor had anyone ever heard his name before this movie came out. Throw in a little Micheal Ironside and a CGI-rendered Arnold and from a distance you’d think you’d have a massive hit on your hands.

2. The action, especially at the beginning, was pretty sweet. A lot of fanboys were crying about how there were no lasers, only bullets, and we were using conventional military to fight HK’s and terminators. But, none of that bothered me. And you know why? Because it takes place only 9 years from now! I can believe what I saw on screen as being part of the near future, but not the other stuff (save that for sequels that take place farther into the future).

3. The screenplay at least had an original concept. Follow basically two lead men and see how their paths meet and, ultimately, change the course of what each of them originally set out to do.

The problem with the movie is that there was no build up to a decent climax. The action, while beautifully shot, did not lead to a crescendo. Instead, it just felt like you were moving from one set piece to another (especially Marcus’s escape). And, maybe because of too many internet leaks, there were no real surprises.

Another problem for me was the lack of dialogue. There was one scene in particular, where they were all standing around in a gas station/hideout and I felt like screaming, “Somebody say something!”  And I don’t understand why Marcus Wright didn’t sit Kyle Reese down and say, “Okay, so what the heck happened here. Explain.” We could have seen some cool flashbacks (like Reese did with his flashforwards in T1) of how it could have went down. But, no, Marcus is not interested in knowing why the whole world looks like the Nevada Desert and is run by a bunch of machines. He just wants to know “who did this to him”. C’mon, people! The most interesting dialogue in all 3 of the Terminator movies is when they talked about Judgement Day and all the time travel stuff!

We also don’t see Kyle Reese go from someone who just stepped of the set of “Newsies” to hardened soldier ready to fight at Connor’s command. No character progression whatsoever. This is a similar complaint that I had concerning Ed Furlong’s Connor in T2. At least T3 showed some progress in Katherine Brewster, going from innocent veterinarian to stone-cold machine killer. There is some hope that Reese will pull a similar character change that Hamilton’s Sarah Connor in the T2.

Finally, some major plotholes and head-scratching moments take you out of the experience. Here is an example of McG explaining one of the biggest plot holes in the movie (the fact that they figured out why Reese is so important, but didn’t kill him):

“It’s a function of their recon during the dark period, and a function of their awareness of the events that had happened since Kyle Reese traveled back. By virtue of John Connor being alive, that means Kyle Reese did meet Sarah Connor and impregnate her. That data exists, and was brought into the fold at Skynet.”

Hey, um, McG, THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A LINE OF DIALOGUE IN THE MOVIE! Argh!

There are whole websites dedicated to untangling the plotholes of all 4 Terminator movies, but this one gives the least amount of effort in explaining them on screen.  My two favorite sites that do this are here and here.

I am a movie optimist. I always look for the best in my movie viewing experience. So, I’ll probably enjoy this film more on the 2nd or 3rd viewing. But, it won’t be in the theater. Maybe not even DVD. Yeah, I’ll wait to see it for free on cable.

Final analysis:

5 out of 10 It’s too bad, because I had my hopes up for this one. Oh well, bring on T2 … as in Transformers 2.