Terminator Salvation
by Adam Elliott
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posted Nov 2 2011 7:30PM
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 Rated PG-13 - 2h10
Reviewed 5.22.09
I can appreciate what they were trying to do with the latest Terminator movie, but it didn’t work for me. Recovery specialist Christian Bale brought new life to the Batman franchise, but with a similarly dark presence, he didn’t do the new Terminator justice.
Set in 2018, Bale plays John Connor, the son of Sarah Connor (the original Terminator girl) and the unofficial leader of a resistance movement against the supercomputer Skynet and its army of Terminators. They’re bent on eliminating humans. I think Skynet’s gripe is because humans are inefficient…and possibly because Skynet was given some government bailout money and didn’t want to pay it back.
Maybe that second part wasn’t true, but what is true is that post-apocalyptic movies should be overburdened with a sense of dread and a little touch of hope for the future. Terminator Salvation clues us that there will be some hope, but this played out more like an action movie than a “little guy” uprising against the “big guy.”
I understand why Bale freaked out on the set. He’s extremely intense in this movie. He probably freaked out at everyone, but we only heard about the one screaming match with his photography guy.
Also a downer, the great reveal in the movie was something any Terminator fan already knows. We know the machines have skin and blood in an attempt to infiltrate humans. We saw that in the original movie. What was the big surprise?
I think part of my problem with this movie was the direction of a guy named McG (Mick-Gee.) He’s the one responsible for the Charlie’s Angels movies and TV’s The O.C. and Chuck. Not much depth in any of them = me bored watching them.
Oh yeah. Does John Connor really have to say “I’ll be back?” That’s a deal breaker.
Overall Rating:
(Out of Four) |
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Date Friendly: |
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Good Humor: |
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Artistic Value: |
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Drama |
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Kid Friendly: |
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Adams Rating Guide:
Overall rating: No further explanation needed.
Date Freindly: Will the “dater? get a smooch from the “datee? for taking them to this one.
Good Laughs: A general rating for number of laughs.
Artistic Value: Includes scenery, camera work, presentation on film, ability to convey a message.
Drama: How much they poured it on and whether it was effective.
Kid Friendly: Will the kids dig it.
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