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Review: Terminator Salvation
T4 is here! But is it worth the hype?
by
May 22, 2009
May 22, 2009
At the end of Terminator 3, Skynet launched its predicted nuclear strike on humanity across the world. The next chapter, set in 2018, is the hysterically-anticipated follow-up Terminator Salvation. As promised, the film depicts a grim, post-apocalyptic future where Skynet's Terminators roam the land on extermination missions, seeking to wipe out all mankind and collecting human specimens for use in development of a new, more deadly model of Terminator. The wreckage of a nearly-extinct civilization is strewn across the landscape, and Sarah Connor's worst nightmares have finally become a horrifying reality.
The voice of John Connor, the core of humanity's existence, crackles through the radio waves, telling stories of hope and promise to anyone who might be listening. It's a feeling all Terminator fans can relate to, going into Salvation. We've waited many years for a proper Terminator film, and the coupling of Bale & Worthington seemed a fantastic way to reboot the franchise. Bringing in Oscar-winning effects wizard Charlie Gibson was a surefire win - the new machines and special effects teasers we'd been shown were thrilling.
As a lifelong fan of the franchise, I badly wanted to love this movie before it even began filming. I didn't flinch (much, anyway) when word broke that Charlie's Angels director McG was at the helm. And the moment I'd heard Bale was involved, Terminator Salvation had my unwavering seal of approval. So what if the story had to be rewritten a thousand times to build the John Connor character's storyline, because Bale didn't want to play Marcus? So what if Arnold was, in fact, coming back, but only a digital rendition? I was in, sight unseen.
But damnit, McG, you've really f*cked things up this time.
The film is a dazzling spectacle- don't get me wrong. Visually, Terminator Salvation is impressive as hell, satisfying the geeked-out little fanboy in all of us. The explosions are real and utterly massive (the gas station scene is a big highlight). The machines and their tactics are exponentially more diverse. The Harvester robot alone is the stuff nightmares are made of - not to mention the deafening "Blaaaaaaat" sound it makes.
The special effects, for the most part, are impressive as hell. But ultimately, the film is a mess because it tries to tell two full stories (John Connor's and Marcus Wright's) and sacrifices entirely too much in doing so.
Marcus Wright (Worthington) is the main cyborg/messiah figure in the movie - his last memory was his own execution in 2003, but he suddenly woke up in 2018, naked and confused. As he pieces together what happened and where he is now, he finds himself a crucial ally/target/pawn for John Connor in his battle to save a teenaged resistance fighter named Kyle Reese, so Reese can travel back in time and create him, giving hope to the resistance in the first place.
Not in any way associated with Crave Entertainment, Inc.
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