Terminator: Salvation

2009

Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Michael Ironside, and Helena Bonham Carter

Written by: John Brancato and Michael Ferris based on characters by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd

Directed by: McG

Ahh Terminator. Growing up male in the 80s and early 90s this was one of THE franchises. Even I, who wasn’t as into the films as most of my brethren, still had a very fond appreciation of the first film, a love of the balls out action of the second film and the apprehension of the third film.

Then they announced the fourth. Again I was a bit apprehensive but I was won over when I started hearing about it. No more T1 plot redos. We were going to the future to see the war the apocalypse will bring about! Christian Bale as John Connor? Beginning of a new trilogy? How could it go wrong?

I’m still not sure but they somehow managed to make it one thing a Terminator film should not be…boring.

How? Still a lot of action. Many large machines shooting at heroic men/women. And yet most of the time I was ho-humming. In reality there was only two moments that I felt back in the real Terminator universe. And they were both cheap nostalgic gags. One was when John Connor uses a radio to lure in a machine and the radio is playing…you guessed it, Guns N Roses “You Could Be Mine”.

Secondly was when John Connor fights one of the original T-800s with Arnold’s face (in a cool bit of sfx where a bodybuilder just played the role and a mask of Arnold from the 80s was scanned to create a digital image.

But otherwise, I found myself tuning out. I still have not seen Avatar yet, but I am not impressed with Mr. Worthington. In fact the big “twist” of this film, one that I could only tell was meant to be a twist due to the “reveal” music that was playing was not only predictable but necessary so it took away any real effect.

And then there’s Christian Bale. I am a big Bale fan to be honest, but this is just not his best work. His John Connor is very one note and that one note is fuzzy. You don’t konw why people follow him truly. He seems more nutcase than leader. The “bad guy” (read: the good guy who opposes Connor) resistance leader, Michael Ironside actually seems more believable at times despite the fact the script makes it easy to see who you’re supposed to like.

And I will throw it in here that it is always good to see Ironside on the screen again.

Another highlight though is young Anton Yelchin who had quite a year with this and Star Trek. He plays the young Kyle Reese with aplomb and believability.

The film is basically an average film which would be alright on it’s own, but as a member of the Terminator franchise is not enough. Now I will say that there are a lot of pieces that could be used to continue the film into a new trilogy of sorts and I would certainly give a sequel a chance, but it is certainly an inauspicious beginning.

C

“Automatic For The People”

Many times it seems shows save one of their worst episodes of the season for #2. It could simply be that after they pull out all the stops in the premiere that anything else seems unfulfilling, but whatever the case, it’s usually anticlimactic and often times not much more than filler.

“Automatic For The People” doesn’t change the standard. It is a boring episode that does little to advance the storyline very much and makes the characters pretty dull and boring. There seems to be little left to the groups possible distrust for Cameron, and Agent Ellison and Charlie were all but left on the cutting room floor.

The main story and storylines often are too much to concentrate on for a whole show without a break and Ellison and Charlie are both strong secondary characters to pace the show properly with.

Hell, even Garbage’s singer, who I panned in my last review would break up the pace a little and she was relegated to a “remember that I’m here!” cameo at the end.

The basic gist of the episode is that a resistor is sent back to warn the crew of a nuclear power plant that will go nova unless they stop it which would hurt the future as well as the resistance uses the plant as a headquarters of sorts.

Ok.

So in about 24 hours the girls get a job there and start snooping and but it all just seems amateurish and frankly it’s boring.

In the meanwhile John meets someone at school, a girl named Riley, who would be an interesting add on to the show, but you know it can’t last long because as always the Connors are on the run. But the problem is, we had this issue before and it seems like it’s a retread. John had seemingly accepted being on his own for a long time, and mature but for whatever reason, regresses again.

Overall it was inconsistent at best and hopefully a bump in the road, as the series had been on an upswing for a bit.

C-

Previous – 2.01

Next – 2.03

Fumbling a bit to open up a second season, it seemed as if the writers strike kind of gave the writers an opportunity to reboot a bit.  Of course that means that a lot of the season two opener had to clear off some things that appeared to be heading in a different direction while laying new groundwork for the real direction.  The best thing I can say about this episode, is it pays homage to the original film in a way in that it is basically one long chase sequence.  So if you like action, you should enjoy it, but to me I was hoping for a bit more.

We open where we left off, Sarkissian having blown up the car with Cameron in it and going into the Connor household.  Unsurprisingly, Cameron has survived, although there is some definite damage going on.  As Sarkissian and thug take the Connor’s prisoner in a very Godfather-like slow motion sequence that screamed to me that the writers were really proud of the Cromartie killing off twenty federal agents in slow motion to Johnny Cash sequence at the end of the first season, that they wanted to do something similar.

The big reveal happens when Cameron kills the one thug and gets to the Connors…and we learn that her new mission is to terminate John, sending them back on the run.   Now this I enjoyed.  The flip of the switch and turning River into Terminator I Arnie from Terminator 2&3 Arnie could make for interesting tension during the beginning of the season.

Unfortunately though we also see the first effects of reboot as we meet the lead singer of Garbage who has bought the Turk from Sarkissian.  Now during the end of Season 1 we had a whole episode where the big reveal was that who our heroes thought was Sarkissian, was not really Sarkissian..instead it was this other guy and that was going to be important.

Yeah important enough to get fried ten minutes later.

And speaking of Shirley Manson.  She was forgettable at best and annoying at worst.   Her reveal at the end was slightly surprising…but done in an awful way.  If we’re going to see a T-1000 type…do we want to see her morph from a toilet?

Silver and Sarah’s “husband” had little to do this episode but ride around trying to find the Connors and really served absolutely no purpose whatsoever.

In a separate sequence, Agent Ellison also doesn’t have much to do but try to explain what happened without sounding like a lunatic.  He opts to keep the truth from the feds, instead blaming it on the young actor Cromartie replaced, whose body was still in the apartment.  Fortunately Richard T. Jones is able to make the most out of his sequences as usual and make this filler still seem very intriguing.

We learn the reason Cromartie kept Ellison alive and it is a bit anti-climactic…Cromartie figured Ellison would lead him to the Connors…and he does lead them to their old burned out house, but another confrontation between the two leads to a great showdown.  What’s better is that Ellison is on six week leave due to the tragedy and that will allow him to catch up with the Connors.

The real story of the season though is the emergence of John as leader.  The only problem is that while actor Thomas Dekker does a good job performing, his physicality is just all wrong and when he’s supposed to look badass, I end up laughing thinking my four year old daughter could look just as bad ass.  But worse is that Sarah Connor looks even weaker.  The whole show I kept thinking…ok..is season 2 the John Connor Chronicles?  Because that’s where it’s going.  That is not necessarily a bad thing though at least on paper.  John has to develop into the future leader of the resistance so it has to start somewhere.

And here it starts with John defying everyone and not destroying Cameron after they are able to get her chip out.  Instead he chooses to fix her and to everyone’s surprise…it works and we get our “family” back together again.  My initial thoughts were “way to ruin a positive direction the show could have gone…:”  But as I watched, I saw the potential of is she or isn’t she….or when does she snap?

Overall it was not a bad beginning to the season, there just was a little too much tidied up and not enough execution.  However, there is enough groundwork and enough supporting roles doing their job to keep this intriguing.

C+

Previous – 1.09

Next – 2.01

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The Terminator

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen, and Earl Boen

Written by: James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, and William Wisher, Jr.

Directed by: James Cameron

It sometimes is amazing to take a franchise that is so iconic, so well loved, and has such an aura that everyone knows about it and most love it, and then go back and watch the original film (or whatever) that spawned such devotion.  Amazing because sometimes you watch a film and part of you can’t help wonder how that became what it is today.

The Terminator is a perfect example.  Some may stop reading now because I’m insulting their  baby, but I’ll be honest, it’s not my intention, because I do like the saga and even like the film, but to me it’s just hard to see how it got from point a to point b while other similar movies don’t.

First off the move is undeniably cool.  Arnold’s portrayal of the machine is as good as it’s iconic placement would suggest, but it’s funny that the movie in all honesty is one long action chase sequence.  Amazing that they can draw that out for nearly two hours and yet still be somewhat effective.

The film is well paced despite that and definitely has some dark humor in it.  One of the first sequences involves a naked Arnold looking for clothes from three young punks, including a blue mohawked Bill Paxton.

When Michael Biehn’s character of Kyle Reese  is sent back to protect (and let’s face it, impregnate) Sarah Connors, mother of the future, the chase is on.   In fact it is her character that is hardest to come to terms with having seen what she is to become in the later media.  How did this ultimate 80s chick who couldn’t hurt a fly become the demon warrior we see in T2 or even the Sarah Connor Chronicles?  But I do digress as it is unfair to judge this film on what happens later.

This Sarah Connor though is annoying.  It’s not that it’s unrealistic, and perhaps it was even subconsicously intended, given the way the film almost makes you want to cheer for the Arnold, but I wanted him to catch her and string her up.

Michael Biehn was very solid as Kyle Reese, playing it as straight as can be with little traces of humanity himself at first acting just enough insane and just enough intrinsicly involved in the storyline.  It was most necessary for Kyle’s character to be strong, as he’s the one the audience has to believe the most.

The special effects are very 80sish  and extremely dated at this point.  From the futuristic laser show to the rubber Arnold face when he has to take his eye out, it is especially strange to watch after watching the much more advanced T2.

For a character with little dialogue…(he, of course, get’s the requisite ‘I’ll be back’ in there), Arnold truly carries the film much the way he carries his frame.  Strong, straight up, and with a sense of true determination.  The character will become a cariacture of itself later on, but for now it’s good to sit back and watch the film unfold.

Overall it was an imaginative tale held back a bit by the effects of the time, and perhaps not quite the epic feel it was going for, but well worth the watch.

B-

Please discuss in our Big Screen section of Phatooine

Interview with Gerry Anderson

Click here to see it in all it’s glory:

TERMINATOR SALVATION

All My Children’s Leven Rambin will play a teenaged love interest of John Connor’s named Becky.

According to ComingSoon.net Shirley Manson, the lead singer of Garbage will be playing a recurring role in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. She will play Catherine Weaver, a CEO of a cutting edge high-tech corporation.

Click for bigger pic!

“Christian was our first choice and he’s a big fan of The Terminator, so we’re very lucky,” Kubicek told the BBC at the Cannes Film Festival.

“But with Batman he’s already done the whole franchise thing, so we weren’t sure he’d respond.”

Luckily, said Kubicek’s business partner Derek Anderson, “he read the script and he loved it, so he’s signed on for all three.”

In perhaps a throwaway quote, there was a non-denial about Arnold reprising his role as a Terminator.

The producers would not reveal whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would reprise his role as the Terminator. Nor would they discuss character names or plot details.

Good news for Terminator fans I think.