Terminator Salvation Review

Published by Jeff Leins on: May 21st, 2009

In 2003, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines fought desperately against the odds, tacking on a third installment without the guidance of an innovator like James Cameron, the absence of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), and the re-casting of John Connor (Nick Stahl).  The battle ended in mostly disappointment, terminating a beloved science fiction franchise… for the time being.

Now, in the future, greed runs rampant through Hollywood offices as recycling machines churn out armies of sequels to destroy fond memories of the past.  If only Cameron’s vision were real, maybe a robotic assassin could have traveled back in time to stop McG from making Terminator Salvation.  Where is naked Arnold Schwarzenegger when you need him?

It’s clear the director is a fan of the first two Terminator movies through the inclusion of obvious references and familiar catch phrases, but it seems McG entirely missed the point about what makes Terminator and T2 great.  Without human interaction or character development, the story is as heartless as the cold, calculated robots.  It appears content with stomping along the path worn by better films and snatching up parts for reprocessing.  No new material ultimately means little justification for this movie’s existence.

As the planned start of a new trilogy, the beginning overtly establishes the timeline for the war between man and machine.  With all the subtly of blunt force trauma, the script (written by the hacks who did Catwoman) leads the audience around by the hand, pointing out characters and shouting over-explanations for the post-apocalyptic dystopia.  “Come with me if you want to understand.”  You know Christian Bale is portraying an older John Connor because others actually address him as “the prophesied leader of the Resistance” or constantly repeat his name.  (Though I wish one of them might have said, “Connor!  Why all the yelling, Connor?”)  Those uninitiated to the series shouldn’t worry about being behind, while everyone else should start dialing down their expectations.

At one point, Connor sits at a table listening to taped messages from his mother (voiced by Hamilton) while staring at a worn picture of her from the original films.  It’s these sort of unnecessary moments that make it difficult to invest in the new cast, like the teenage version of original Terminator hero Kyle Reese (now played convincingly by Anton Yelchin).  McG is too busy connecting the dots and holding up proverbial comparison photos to focus on developing the characters as they are in this time period.  Nor is either character ever really in danger since it’s a forgone conclusion they both live to fight another day.  Or in Reese’s case, travel back in time to fight in an earlier day.

The potential for a deeper exploration of humanity rests on the brawny shoulders of Marcus (Sam Worthington).  Unfortunately the opening scene tarnishes a possible twist where Marcus might struggle and connect with the humans in the theater.  Instead the audience right away watches him sign his body to Cyberdyne and die, then stores the knowledge for an inevitable, empty moment where Marcus realizes he’s half machine.

The rest of the characters take a back seat to loud, crunching metal, including the inexplicably pregnant Kate Connor (Bryce Dallas Howard), a random mute kid, a barely seen Barnes (Common), and the superfluous love interest/Marcus sympathizer/strong female Sarah Connor replacement, Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood).

It isn’t all bad though.  Occasional immersive action sequences salvage the scripted wreckage for popcorn pieces of explosions, chases, and heavy gunfire.  A gas station scene stands out as a thrilling example that at least some of the movie is fun.  The production team has expanded the line-up of robotic foes, though it seems the Resistance wasn’t too creative in naming them.  Hunter killer (it hunts and kills), moto-bot (motorcycle robot), harvester (harvests people), hydro-bot (water robot), etc.  At least these machines don’t dance, tell jokes, or urinate on humans like the other, even dumber summer robot franchise.  The effects team even resurrected Arnold’s T-800 through the clever use of facial layering.

Overall, Terminator Salvation is clunky, rigid, and not worthy of the original series.  Right before John Connor waltzes into the “heavily-fortified” Skynet headquarters, he turns to his Resistance fighters and says, “I’ll be back.”  I wish he wouldn’t.

2.5 out of 5.