No Need To Terminate Salvation

I exited the cinema after seeing Terminator Salvation with a similar feeling from that of seeing Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines; I shouldn't of liked that, but I really did! Yep, T4 is a cool addition to the Terminator Universe and a thoroughly enjoyable war flick.

It reminds me a lot of The Phantom Menace (no, for me, that's a good thing). It feels more like the first installment of a new trilogy more than a continuation of a movie series. Like Phantom Menace, it's got a new setting (in T4's case, post-apocalyptic) and a new cast. Also like Episode 1, it depicts events that will go on to shape and set-up what we've seen in previously released movies. Finally, while the events in T4 and Episode 1 are important, entertaining and spectacular...the meat of each saga isn't being told in these particular installments. In Salvation, John Connor gets to prove himself and become the legit leader of the resistance, meets his dad Kyle Reese and gets the scar we see in the prologue of T2. It feels like chess pieces are being manuveured into postion rather than putting them through life altering senario's. And honestly, thats fine if the next movie can build on this one.

The film is evenly split between Sam Worthington's mystery man Marcus and intense Mr Bale's John Connor. Marcus gets a proper character arc as he searches for answers while Bale does the army leader bit. Both roles (in fact, every role in the movie) in staggeringly underwritten which is the movie's major shortcoming. We don't know what Marcus is really going through or how he's coping with his rebirth. As for Bale, I'm relieved Connor is portrayed as the dedicated and passionate leader I hoped he would become (as opposed to the mis-cast man-wimp of Nick Stahl in T3)...but his relationship with Kate, his wife, isn't exploited, nor his child's impending birth (surely some drama could have been milked from that).

But I'm nit-picking at an exciting war movie. It's great to see the future that Reece described in T1 on screen properly. It's facinating to see the limits of Skynet's reach, post Judgement Day, and the effectiveness and resources of the Resistance. The Resistance's counter-offensive story is just as facinating as the Marcus story, which delves into Skynet's R&D...and the two strands nicely dovetail at the end.

The homages are cute. The franchise catch-phrases are wisely down-played and the inclusion of G'n'R's You Could Be Mine comes at a knowingly appropriate moment.

There's some really good action sequences in here as well, including a Children of Men style steady-cam shot as Connor attempts to pursue a Hunter-killer in a chopper and an extended Mad Max -style chase between a pick-up truck, a steampunk-transformer, robo-cycles and a flying HK. Great to see an Arnie style T-800 in the climax, but they were wise to keep close-ups to a minimum...it seems Skynet get their Terminator eyes from Scorpion King Inc.

So well done McG for not screwing the pooch. It's much better than T3, and I'm rather fond of that romp, despite it's flaws. He's hoping for an even bigger or better war movie next time out. Terminator meets The Guns of Navarone, anyone?