Director: McG
Rated: PG-13
*Note: This film releases on May 21st

For: Terminator and Sam Worthington fans; Those looking for a good post-apocalyptic action film
Not for: Those seeking innovations and originality in the sci-fi genre

The heavy bass and percussion anthem of Terminator is iconic, stemming from the imagination of James Cameron and his take on the conspiracy theory of machines versus humans.  The first two movies in the series were fantastic representations of gritty sci-fi mixed with some good action and drama along with revolutionary special effects.  The third, however, was a ho-hum entry that seemed to try and keep the franchise alive along with Schwarzengger’s acting career.  Director McG now takes the reins as the series blasts off into the post-apocalyptic future and many had their doubts about how the movie would be, given McG’s past resume.  Does the series still fare well even with the time change and nearly complete cast makeover?  What may come as a surprise to many is yes, Terminator: Salvation is still a good entry and a marked improvement over its third predecessor that may not exactly set the sci-fi genre ablaze with its effects or plot line but progresses the saga in an interesting direction with good action to boot.

Terminator: Salvation is set in a post-apocalyptic future after Skynet, a huge supercomputer, has literally blown up the world with nuclear weapons and is battling the remaining humans, the Resistance, for complete control.  At the spearhead of the operation for the Resistance is John Connor (Christian Bale), who is considered to be both a prophet, mainly because of his knowledge of what is to come, and a hindrance by the leaders of the Resistance, because of his rebellious ways.  Assisted by Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Carter) and his own army, Connor works tirelessly to figure out a way to stop the machines.  However, that all changes when a Resistance fighter Moon (Blair Williams) discovers Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a being who shakes up what Connor expected as both sides start to make their decisive moves against each other.

Perhaps the biggest mistakes that McG’s entry makes is based more on lack of innovation and ambition.  Terminator: Salvation is definitely big and spectacular as an action sci-fi movie, yet it lacks the punch and complete terror that came with the first two entries.  This is exemplified when looking at most of the characters, especially John Connor.  Instead of full and featured emotions, most of these people take on with a specific emotion, whether it is being rebellious, fighting against the robots, or staying ambivalent.  It is disappointing to see Connor so under fleshed with only a real change of heart by the end of the film as it is a bit nonsensical after all that he has gone through in his life.  Even the final surprise villain will feel so intangible because of the lack of understandable emotion from the heroes.  Additionally, the editing and exposition are pretty spotty and all over the board.  The introduction is a mess of combining an awkward flashback with a long text overlay, and while never occurring to the same severity, there should have been tighter control over how the narrative is unveiled.  The worst hindrance is the fact that important themes that seem readily apparent are never really explored.  What does it really mean to be both a prophet and a soldier?  What is the significance to being both a robot and human (and wouldn’t you realize it sooner when you couldn’t perform human functions)?  How does one live day-to-day in a post-apocalyptic environment with oneself and others in normal relationships?  A much better movie was definitely lurking underneath, yet it was never aspired towards.

These seemingly large errors, however, are overshadowed by both the entertainment value and successful progression of the narrative.  Terminator: Salvation has a lot of great action sequences that effectively ramp up in the amount of effects and fights seen on screen.  Tensions run high when a massive robot starts to take human prisoners or through a one-on-one showdown between human versus robot.  It is non-stop and gritty (at least for a PG-13 rating).  The biggest and probably unspoken star, though, is the great guerilla-style camera work.  There are some great, beautiful long shots as the heroes duck and weave between debris and robots to reach a destination and while it may never be as ambitious as a movie like Children of Men, such good cinematography is always a pleasure to see.  On top of this, Industrial Light & Magic continue their reign as a great special effects house as many of the CG and technology is seamless and tangible, save for perhaps a few not-so-great looking robots.  Perhaps what also pushes this film into a more memorable direction is the direction the plot takes.  Although it may never explore it in detail, the plot makes interesting points as to what happens when past, prophesized information does not exactly match up with the future or how a prisoner of war could change the entire battle.  Worthington’s Marcus becomes an integral part of that discussion and although much cannot be talked about without revealing too much, this character is probably the most well-rounded and surprisingly intriguing character that will keep moviegoers interested until the very end, which is a testament to both his acting ability and the good dialogue he is given.

Terminator: Salvation is a competent, summer action movie that, much like all good reboots, pleases the fan base while attracting a wider audience.  It does not exactly innovate the Terminator name beyond what is already accomplished as it relies on series old themes and not exactly helped by the dearth of character development for most of the characters, some odd exposition work, lack of cohesive editing, and odd ending sequence, but it does bring up some interesting ideas about where the series could go.  Worthington’s Marcus is the unexpected character that really makes the most impact, raising questions about the differences between humans and cyborgs, while ILM creates another spectacular special effects offering that add to the constant tension and fairly slick cinematography.  All in all, neither action nor Terminator fans should be displeased with McG’s work.  Anyone expecting a genre-defining, science fiction film as explosive as the first two Terminators, though, are going in with too high of expectations.

The Wie muses: *** out of *****

Ratings:
*****: Excellent
**** to ****½: Great
*** to ***½: Good
** to **½: Mediocre
* to *½: Bad
0 to ½: Terrible

Terminator: Salvation Trailer

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