Terminator Salvation: So that's what death tastes like (Terminator Salvation (DVD))

Member Name: joncarey9

Product:	Terminator Salvation (DVD)
Date:	01/11/09 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No strings action

Disadvantages: Poor acting, plot and nothing we haven't seen before

Introduction
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If you have even the slightest knowledge of cinema and cinema history you would have heard of the Terminator franchise. Since the release of James Cameron's first film back in 1984 it has gone on to become one of the most financially successful and popular series in film history, with two previous sequels released.

Terminator Salvation is the fourth instalment in the franchise and is the first of the films to be set in the future (2018) and fully tell the story of the war between man and the machines.

Of all the films released this summer Terminator Salvation was the one I was probably most excited for. Being a fan of the previous trilogy I couldn't help but want to watch more of the franchise, even though I was well aware that it could be too much of a good thing. 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines wasn't a terrible effort but it was a long way of Cameron's original two films, so for my sake and the sake of Terminator fans everywhere I was praying "McG" made the post apocalyptic film we had been waiting for since seeing glimpses of it more than 20 years ago.

I don't want to go any further without saying a little bit about the director, this McG character. Real name Jospeh McGinty Nichol, he apparently thinks it's to his credit to go solely by the name McG. Who am I to question what a nearly 40 year old man thinks is a good idea though... Originally a music video director he is probably best known for directing the 2000 Charlie's Angels film and its 2003 sequel, films I have not seen so can't really comment on (I'm sure they are dire affairs though!)


Plot
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For those Terminator virgins out there this is probably not the best place to jump on board, I'd recommend that you go back and start at the beginning. But here's a very brief overview of the franchise plot; In the near future the world has been taken over by machines, lead by a rogue artificial intelligence system known as Skynet. They set out to wipe Earth of all human life, developing cyborg assassins known as Terminators which look just like humans. In the future the human resistance is lead by a man named John Connor, in an attempt to change the future a terminator is sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor, John's mother, before she can give birth to him. I won't say any more as I don't want to give away spoilers, that's basically where we are now though. The past has all happened, the machines have taken over and we are now with John Connor and the resistance as they attempt to take down Skynet.

Now in 2018, the future which John Connor was raised to believe would happen is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright. A death row prisoner who after being given the lethal injection finds himself awake transported 15 years into the future. As Skynet prepares its final attack Connor must decide whether to trust this stranger, who has a hidden secret, whilst also rescuing a young Kyle Reese, a man who plays a vital role in Connor's own future.


Opinion
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The previous Terminator trilogy was one of those classic examples of Terminator 1, good, Terminator 2 better and Terminator 3 worse, with the age rating going down with every release. Basically as something becomes more popular and the production studios realise there's a market for something they will without fail try and target it at a younger audience in order to get a bigger viewership, that just how it works. What that means sadly though is everything just feels a little bit watered known.

Terminator Salvation existed purely because it will make money, that's the simple fact. There was no need for it to be made, the storyline had been rounded off nicely already (it should have finished after two actually) and this, what I can only presume as being the start of a second trilogy, is just a simple cash in. That being said though there's absolutely no reason why this couldn't have been a fun, enjoyable, critically successful cash in. Unfortunately it is none of those things, it's a big boring disappointment of a film.

I wanted to love this so much I really did, and when it started I actually thought for a moment I might. I was wrong. The novelty soon wears off after the good but not mind-blowing CGI and explosions merge into each other like some kind of clichéd action movie blur. It was like McG has just sat down with a scrap book cutting out and sticking in all his favourite action movie scenes and then used that as his shooting script.

I say this a lot when reviewing a film but it was just too long for what it was, it could have easily shaved off 20 minutes and been the exact same film. The plot is pretty much nothing and makes very little progress on what we already know and presumed from the previous films, with anything new which is thrown in seeming unnecessary. I reiterate this film didn't need to be and shouldn't have been made.

After all the fuss made and stories reported about actor Christian Bale (who I rate very highly), with his onset rants and that fact that he was reluctant to take the part as he didn't want to star in just another action movie, I thought this might have a bit of depth if he saw it as worthwhile. He must have seen something which I didn't then because this has no depth, it's another fine example of all style and no substance, I swear McG must be related to Michael Bay. Talking of Bay, this film IS better than Transformers 2 in case you were wondering, it never quite reached that low!

Bale is surprisingly pretty average to bad in his performance, he just shouts his way through every line, in a voice somewhere between his Batman one and a Futurama Richard Nixon spoof. I'm really disappointed, I expected him to at least provide me with a bit of a shining light.

Terminator Salvation is like a 2 hour action film tribute act. If that's your thing though, if you like gunfights, explosions, loads of CGI and a throwaway plot you'll probably think this is a great flick. It's not absolutely terrible or anything I just found it all to be a bit, well, boring really! For all the onscreen action the whole thing was very limp, lacking a backbone, and like the machines lacking a heart.


Overview
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Director: McG
Writers: John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Runtime: 115 minutes
Certification: 12A

Main cast:
Christian Bale as John Connor
Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese
Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor
Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams
Common as Barnes
Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Serena Kogan

Summary: They should have stopped whilst they where ahead