The Dark Knight Takes on John Connor ~ A Movie Review of ‘Terminator Salvation’

What is it with Christian Bale grabbing all the movie roles that have sequels attached to them?  Despite his hissy fit over some poor louse who ruined a scene - according to Bale he was an amateur (mind you it is not for young ears, but at least you know that Bale isn't phoning in his performance).  Hey, if you like a beat to your *&^%* tirades check out the remix!  After the fun over Bale's rant mania ebbs, the question is if his performance as John Connor was worth his passion?  If only you could see me shrugging my shoulders.

            I'm not going to deny that 'Terminator Salvation' doesn't have its charms.  The terminator army of gadgets is pretty awesome and worthy of some 'gotcha moments' in a theater seat.  Further, the audience is introduced to some new characters such as Star (Jadagrace, who incidentally does not appear to be the daughter of Jada Pinkett and Will Smith although her name and age made me think that she might) a silent little mite surviving in Armageddon who seems to be able to ascertain the needs of those around her.  Anton Yelchin plays the teen version of Kyle Reese who was played in the original 'Terminator' (1984) by Michael Biehn.  (In the television show 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Reese is portrayed by Jonathon Jackson.)  Yelchin might be familiar to recent movie goers who have seen 'Star Trek' because he was Pavel Chekov (somewhere Zac Efron is weeping).  Jane Alexander is also thrown into the mix for some reason, but her screen time is five minutes maybe and it seems as if her only purpose is to give Star some food before being yanked into a holding cell inside a Godzilla sized version of Terminators.  Bryce Dallas Howard is inserted in the role of Kate Connor which makes sense because Claire Danes who created the character in 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' (2003) was paired with Nick Stahl, who I think it is safe to observe, was recast as John Connor.  Of course what fun would any 'Terminator' film be if there wasn't at least a cameo of a certain someone.  Oh who, oh who, could I possibly be writing about?

            The bulk of the story though doesn't even involve the before mentioned characters.  That honor goes to Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) who opens the movie by being executed to only wake up in the dismal future.  Before the execution he signs his body over to science and there is a whole scene where he asks for a kiss from his doctor, played by Helena Bonham-Carter who is dying from cancer, and he says something to the effect, "So this is what dying tastes like."  Of course this seals up the idea that Wright is not a good guy, but is there any possibility he might redeem himself?  What if he meets a sexy resistance fighter played by Moon Bloodgood?

            As far as the feeling after walking out of the show, I have to acknowledge that I didn't feel as if this new 'Terminator' installment 'jumped the shark' but it felt close to the edge.  Maybe I have that feeling because there is, I mean was, the television series (it has been canceled) thus as an observer of pop culture I think there has been a saturation of all things terminator.  Seriously, how many jokes to we have to endure about the Governor of California being the Governator?  I suppose I don't understand the logic of having a show about terminators canceled and then making a big budget movie?  I wonder if the Halcyon Company, which owns the franchise, decided to green light the project just because they could.  Granted, they had McG directing (best known for directing the 'Charlie's Angels' films, he is slated for the 'Terminator' sequel assuming there is one) and Christine Bale hot off 'The Dark Knight,' but, in case they haven't looked around, the economy isn't doing so great and the main premise of the storyline is that all humans are living day to day in a 'Band of Brothers' scenario.  Instead of Shirley Temple, we do have a cute vocally challenged poppet that doesn't even dance...yet she is a wiz at cooking two day old coyote.

            Besides all the gloom and doom that one can image in a post apocalypse world, this version of 'Terminator' suffers from tough box office competition.  Both 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' and 'Star Trek' have more likeable characters and both are teeming with special effects.  Even 'Angels & Demons' had impressive special effects which transformed some soundstage into Vatican City which is a hell of a lot nicer to look at than L.A. after nuclear holocaust.  Unlike 'Terminators' before, such as 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991) which took a moderately successful low budget film (which gained popularity primarily from cable showings) and transformed it into an event movie that shocked its audiences with mind blowing special effects and a loveable Terminator that had a comedic edge.  It also had a hopeful message which is obviously lacking in the last two movies (I never saw any episodes of the television series).

            I don't want to write that this latest 'Terminator' installment is a bad movie, it isn't really, but it's not the type of movie that 'T 2' was or even the original, it sort of stands on its own as a chapter to a story that someone can skip and still be on board as to what is happening in the 'Terminator' universe.  Despite Bale's fit about being professional on a film set, his performance isn't rant worthy.  To be honest, there isn't that much for him to do except fight terminators and look noble which he does accomplish.  I suppose in many ways this film, more than the others, puts the franchise at a crossroads.  It can either expand on the characters it has introduced such as Star or Jane Alexander's who can become an elder sage for humanity; or it can simple fizzle out with hopes of being rebooted in a decade or so as the 'Star Trek' franchise has been under the command of J. J. Abrams.  In any event, unless you are a HUGE 'Terminator' fan or have seen everything else in the summer offering, I would recommend waiting for 'Terminator Salvation' to come out on DVD or cable. 

Westerfield © 2009