Terminator Salvation
Review
by Gareth Von Kallenbach
Following up the legendary first two Terminator films
was no easy task.
Without series creator, James Cameron, many fans found Terminator: Rise of the Machines
lacking the depth, action and character of the earlier films.
When director McG (Charlies
Angels) was announced to continue the war between humanity
and the machines in Terminator
Salvation, fans feared that the series might become
something of a campy action film mess.
Thankfully, for fans, his film delivers and continues the dark and
intensely human story about the battle for humanities' survival against
the ruthless computer network, Skynet.
The film opens in 2018 where John Connor (Christian Bale), is involved
in a raid on a Skynet facility with a group of fellow soldiers.
The team, attempting to gain sensitive information from the main
servers about Skynet, discover a bounty of human prisoners being kept
by the machines and soon learn what they believe to be a weakness in
the network.
A weakness that may allow them to defeat Skynet once and for all...
In the aftermath of the mission, John is debriefed and learns that
their names are on a Skynet kill list - ironically John Connor is #2 on
the list behind some schmuck named Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin).
While the name does not ring any bells with the command staff, John
knows the name all too well and how his future, and all of humanity,
hinges on this person staying alive.
At the same time, a man named Marcus Wright emerges
(played by Aussie, Sam Worthington) who meets up with Reese.
Together they flee from a an array of deadly machines intent on
capturing Reese.
In a spectacular action sequence, Reese and Marcus battle a giant
machine as well as Hunter Killers and cycle-like assassins that are as
relentless as their terminator counterparts.
Separated from Reese by the enemy, Marcus meets a resistance pilot
named Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood), who convinces him to return to
the resistance camp where John Connor can help him locate the infamous
Kyle Reese.
Fates soon collide and a shocking secret is revealed that causes
division in the resistance and places Connor at odds with his chain of
command. As a pending strike on Skynet looms, Connor is forced to
undertake a desperate mission to save the future, one that challenges
much of what he believes and rocks the very foundation of the
resistance.
What follows is an intense series of events and an explosive series of
action sequences that should delight fans of the series and sets the
stage well for future Terminator
films.
Christian Bale brings his signature intensity to Connor, smoothly
moving between the action and dramatic scenes well, something he has
had practice with as Batman in The
Dark Knight. Newcomer, Sam Worthington, was also a very
pleasant surprise. His character not only has an interesting back story
but provides a great compass for the storyline.
Some questions should be raised relating to about how, in a post
Apocalypse setting, things like water were free from fallout, as were
blasted out cities and how military planes and ships survived without
having their chips scrambled by a nuclear pulse.
That sort of nit picking aside, Terminator
Salvation works very well.
A strong cast and good action blend with some superb visual effects to
create an ultimately winning formula. I did wonder where the plasma
rifles that were shown in the earlier films were - but did remember
that those were shown in a time eleven years in the future from this
film.
Of great significance in James Cameron's earlier films was the way he
deftly combined action and real characters with a complex
storyline. Terminator
Salvation is not as deep as the first two films but it
also does not rely on explosions of CGI effects to carry the story.
At the core of the film is a bleak but human drama about love,
sacrifice, survival, and determination. While some may have issues with
the dark tone of the film, it is important to remember that this is
about humanities’ struggle against extinction.
McG keeps things moving at a brisk pace and has crafted a slick and
enjoyable film that has many clever nods to the source material without
ever being disrespectful to the franchise.
I am looking forward to see what future Terminator Salvation
franchise films will offer - because the battle for humanity has truly
only just begun.
4
out
of 5
Terminator
Salvation
Australian release: 4th
Juney,
2009
Official
Site: Terminator Salvation
Cast: Christian Bale, Sam
Worthington, Anton Yelchin
Director: McG
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