Terminator Salvation
Christian Bale as John Connor in Terminator Salvation
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Friday, 05, Jun 2009 10:06
Directed by McG, out June 3rd, in cinemas, starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, running time 130 mins.
In a nutshell.
A big, brash sequel that just about manages to salvage the franchise.
What's it all about?
It's 2018, 14 years after Judgment Day levelled the earth and drove the last few souls of mankind underground while the machines rose in vengeance. But humanity isn't lying down that easily and a survival network calling themselves the Resistance struggles to stay alive while planning scattered attacks on a massive mechanised enemy.
As John Connor (Bale), a saviour to some, a false prophet to others, rises among the Resistance, a stranger from the past arrives, undermining the future John was raised to believe in.
Can Marcus Wright (Worthington) be trusted or is the key to humanity's existence more complicated than man vs machine?
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Who's in it?
The Dark Knight star Christian Bale's leading role as John Connor is hardly any secret, thanks to a leaked recording of the Welsh-born actor swearily freaking out at an unfortunate crew member while the largely unknown Sam Worthington is soon to become a megastar of Bale's wattage. After breakout performances in his native Australia, he will next be seen in every scene of James Cameron's eagerly-awaited Avatar as well as starring as Perseus in Louis Leterrier's remake of Clash of the Titans.
Co-stars include Star Trek's Anton Yelchin, rising star Moon Bloodgood, rapper Common and Golden Globe nominee Bryce Dallas Howard.
Director McG is best known for the Charlie's Angels film and as well as helming sports drama We Are Marshall, also executive produced The OC, Chuck and Supernatural.
As an example.
"This is war, Connor. Leadership has its cost; you of all should know that." - General Ashdown
"The devil's hands have been busy." - John Connor
"The human condition no longer applies to you [Marcus]." - Dr Serena Korgan
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars?
About as likely as a former Austrian bodybuilder moving from action stardom to governing one of the most powerful states in the US. Oh, wait.
What the others say
"Terminator Salvation is a confused, humourless grind, with nobody, from the stars to the set designers, prepared to prick its self-importance." - Anthony Lane, New Yorker
"Terminator Salvation feels both comfortable with its limitations and justly proud of its accomplishments." - AO Scott, New York Times
So is it any good?
McG's appointment to the robotic franchise with the confused time line was met with howls of derision from the fanboys but on first viewing, Terminator Salvation isn't the slo-mo filled, jumped-up car advert you might have expected from the auteur behind such 'classics' as Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.
Its flaws are numerous but in a film that delivers everything you'd ask from a Terminator movie - unbeatable robot foes, faux-profound musings on fate and a time-scale that leaves you gasping "but. " - there are enough positives to believe the future is not set for this franchise and the Resistance will live to fight another day.
McG shows his strongest hand - set-pieces - early on, with an explosive and impressively layered opening attack on Skynet while a dizzying, brilliantly-realised helicopter crash sequence proves he did at least learn something while setting up those loving close-ups of Lucy Liu, my girl Drew and Cameron D.
Though the film's CGI backgrounds are not 100 per cent successful and too many scenes are played out on unmistakeable sound-stages, the scale and spectacle of this sequel is undeniable and should mean that its clunky dialogue and scant regard for characterisation can be sufficiently overlooked to see a fifth instalment marching into cinemas in the next few years.
McG's weaknesses as a filmmaker are, however, painfully evident, and sentimentality which feels ill-suited to a Terminator movie is added through an unnecessary love story and the inclusion of a child actor as studio-sanctioned, odd and unnecessary as Australia's Nullah.
There's also a complete dearth of emotional weight to dramatic sequences as erratic as a misfiring T600 and Terminator Salvation manages the ignoble feat of besting X-Men Origins: Wolverine in the amount of scenes which climax with a scream of "Nooooooooooooo!"
All's not lost however, with some nods to the original that can't help but raise a grin - especially in the poorly kept secret of a certain cameo - and superb performances from Yelchin, with a fantastically wiry Michael Biehn impression, and Worthington. The latter's destiny is certainly established with movie stardom on the horizon thanks to his ability to fight like a drunken Aussie Rules player while carrying layers of dysfunction written across his face.
Bale puts in a curiously dead-eyed performance, with his growl swiftly becoming a bore, but a final twist gives the climax - and the franchise - some legs as the budget is writ large in background pyrotechnics.
Though a little soulless, this is well-crafted popcorn fun that knows it's not expected to deliver anything beyond big bangs and cool robots and so gets away with skimping a little too much on character and dialogue.
7/10
Lewis Bazley