Terminator Salvation

As I sat in the theatre on Friday night it occurred to me, I have never seen a Terminator movie on the big screen. So when the words “Terminator Salvation” came across the screen and the music played (you know the music) I had a moment of pure joy. The following two hours, however, were a considerable let down from that moment. Mired in plot issues, casting issues, characters that you simply can’t be bothered to like mixed with some of the most artful action commited to celluloid (or a hard drive, whatever), Terminator Salvation was not the shining continuation of this franchise we were all hoping for. McG did not save the future of Terminator.

Of course by now everyone knows the story. The year is 2018 and the bombs have fallen, Judgment Day has happened. Humanity is now fighting the war for its survival against the machines. All is not well on the human front. John Connor, the prophesied savior of mankind, holds a significantly limited rank within what is left of the army, now called the Resistance. John alone knows what is coming and still no one will believe him (it runs in the family, apparently). Complicating all of this is the word that the machines are coming for the major players in the Resistance and in John’s life (again), including Kyle Reese, before the end of the week. Thus begins John’s race to be the one to find his father first. Meanwhile, Marcus Wright, a man whose story we are introduced to in a meaningless opening featuring Helena Bonham Carter, is awakened in the future, not knowing what has happened to the world, what year it is and, most certainly, not knowing what a Terminator is. Marcus is special, although he doesn’t know it yet, and after an altercation with a large group of Terminators, he goes after a transport of humans, one of whom is Kyle Reese.

Where was John Connor the leader? Where was the inspiration? Where was the incredible tactical knowledge he expressed as a *10 year old*?!? McG said recently during one of the many press junkets that there were plans to make three of these movies, but only if this one worked. Mr. McG? It didn’t work. Please completely reboot before going ahead again. And please do not bring the war into the past.

Gone was the incredible driving story and the deep mythos that has managed to capture the imagination of moviegoers for over 20 years. Gone were characters you wanted to be invested in. They were replaced, instead, with some of the most incredible action I’ve seen in some time. This movie may have missed a lot of marks, but when it comes to action, McG is an artist painting with broad strokes and minute details at the same time, he marries the practical and the CG brilliantly. And thank goodness because it was the only thing keeping me from hucking my popcorn at the screen.

Also unfortunate was the sinking realization that this story doesn’t work anymore. Take away everything that makes John Connor a threat and all of a sudden the audience is wondering why they’re wasting their time either trying to find him or trying to save him. This incarnation of John Connor really is nothing special – a whiny brat who thinks his life has been really hard so he runs around barking at everyone in a voice he stole from Batman. Whatever dude. Can they kill him now?

Although, from what I understand, Christian Bale was initially supposed to play the Marcus Wright character because he was the largest character in the movie. Bale fought to play John Connor instead, something for which I may never be able to forgive him for. Instead, Wright was an inspirational character who I would have gladly followed into battle – inspiring those around him and making him the most compelling character on screen. Instead, we have Bale’s curt, unloving, uninspired Connor, a man I would much rather leave on the battlefield than follow to my death.

In the end, I won’t way that it’s “worse” than Terminator 3, but it seems that T3 set the bar so low for continuing this series that no one felt the need to rise above. It is unfortunate that even the 5 minute sequence at the end of T3 in which John Connor finds himself locked in a bunker, forced into being the leader he was always destined to become, had more mythos and soul than this entire movie. I can really only recommend seeing this if you’re a completest or if you’re just looking for some awesome action. But definitely don’t pay full  price.