The future is a fluid thing. Atleast that's what I learned from my X-men comics all these years. If something doesn't quite mesh with established history, it's okay. Don't sweat the small stuff. If you're like me, you've been waiting a long time for the Terminator franchise to finally get around to showing us the war between humans and the mechanized forces of Skynet. Well, we finally get that war, and if everything doesn't quite gel as perfectly as hoped, that's fine with me. There's plenty enough to appeal to both the hardcore Terminator fans and those who are a bit late to the party.
Salvation breaks from the traditional mold of the previous films, which were basically about protecting John Connor long before he ever becomes the chosen messiah of the human race that he is destined to become. In fact, the time travel element is all but gone here, which to me is a good thing. We are where we need to be finally, no need to rehash the same plot as the last three movies. This time around Connor is on the cusp of becoming the leader he had been told his entire life that he would be, much to the chagrin of his military commanders who don't believe a word of it.
The film begins oddly enough in 2003, where we see a deathrow inmate named Marcus Wright(Sam Worthington) about to be executed. But before that happens, he is approached by a representative(Helena Bonham Carter, looking particularly hideous) of the infamous Cyberdyne, who want him to donate his body to them after his death. He agrees after some brief, stomach turning negotiation. It's pretty obvious what they have in mind to those of us who've seen what the future holds, but Marcus is blissfully unaware of the terrible mistake he's just made.
Back in the present(or the future or whatever you wanna call it), John Connor has just found out that he's numero dos on Skynet's hitlist. Who could possibly be #1, you might ask? Why, one Mr. Kyle Reese(Anton Yelchin), who John knows is his future father. So John's task becomes protecting this unsuspecting future hero, and also to save hundreds of innocent humans who have been captured and are being held in a Skynet facility.
Ignore all those posters out there showing Christian Bale, oversized gun in hand looking all cool and rugged. He pretty much has nothing to do here. This is not a John Connor film. It's a Kyle Reese/Marcus Wright film. The buddy dynamic that develops in all of the Terminator films is best revisited between those two, as Kyle saves an unsuspecting Marcus from a hunter 'bot. Just how did Marcus manage to make it to the future? Well, the trailers pretty much spoil that nugget, but it should be pretty obvious anyway. I really dug Anton Yelchin's performance as Kyle Reese, and to me he was the highlight of the film. It was one of those situations where I doubted the casting, and my initial impressions of him on screen didn't change my mind. But by the time the film ended, it seemed like he really had a grasp of Michael Biehn's mannerisms and cadence. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Worthington, an unknown comodity to me before now, but he was impressive as well portraying the utter confusion and disbelief for a man in his position.
But this is Christian Bale's film, right? How was he? Pretty lifeless. I don't blame that entirely on him. Most of that has to do with the very dodgy script and weak plot. Connor is essentially just along for the ride, and we see very little of the great leader he is meant to be. He's just a solider, and not all that inspiring. Bale almost seems to be sleepwalking through it. For someone who was supposedly so passionate about this script you'd think he'd show a litle of that on screen. Yet I wonder if maybe that was kindof the point? John Connor has been told that this was his destiny since the day he was born, so wouldn't he be pretty blase about all this by now? All the talk of destiny must be old hat to him. Maybe Bale was trying to tap into that a little bit. Atleast he's not window dressing like poor Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays John's pregnant wife, Kate. She has even less to do here, and worse she looks like she just stepped away from a cover shoot. I thought this was the grimy, dirty, post apocalyptic future? The same goes for Moon Bloodgood. These two need to roll around in the mud, so to speak.
There was never any doubt that the action would be top notch, and it is. McG, who excels in this area, never met an explosion he didn't like. Say what you want about him, but the man knows his thing. There are a couple of really nice homages to the previous films, my favorite being a kinetic chase sequence between a mack truck and a couple of Terminator-cycles. Yes, motorcycles. The variation on all the different killer 'bots is a bit staggering, and some feel a bit tacked on(Terminator eels? Really?). My biggest beef is that none of them really feel seem all that formidable. Perhaps we're in a situation where Skynet doesn't really get into the serious kick ass Terminators until after the T-800, which would also make perfect sense.
Speaking of which, yes the T-800 makes his much hyped guest appearance, and for the most part it's satisfying. It's hard not to feel those chills of excitement once the familiar music kicks in and you know exactly who's coming. I wish it had gone on for longer, but a little went a long way.
So is Terminator Salvation perfect? No. Ofcourse not. Is it the best of the summer blockbusters so far? No. Is it an awful film by any means? Ofcourse not. It's biggest detriment is that it feels a bit too much like the first part of a trilogy. Very little is resolved in hopes of saving them for future films. There's little that I hate more than feeling cheated out of a story, but in this case I see the potential in the sequels that gives me hope. John Connor's story is far from over, only destined to grow larger, and with that we should see Christian Bale finally be able to put his immense skills to good use. For that reason alone, the future of the Terminator franchise is looking pretty bright.
6/10
