Jason KingTerminator: Salvation $13-
June 3rd 2009 10:32
:
Terminator: Salvation $13-
Category: No Category
Terminator: Salvation $13-
Surprisingly I absolutely loved this film. I have been reading over the last few days the scathing reviews coming from the US and they have not been pretty, but today, thanks to my friends at Sony, for allowing me to watch another movie after I hated Angels and Demons so much, I had the privilege of being one of the first in Oz to sit through this. And it was awesome!!
In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against... In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
The film also stars Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor, Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, Common as Barnes, and Jadagrace as Star.
This installment, the first in the new trilogy is very different from the other three films. For the sake of this story and my sanity let's say the third film, T3, never existed. It was crap anyway
. I think this may be one of the reasons that critics in the USA are bagging this one out. They were expecting another chase movie, the thing that made the first two films so succesful, this running from the inevitable and never ending machine version of the grim reaper. But people, if you want to watch the first two again, then they are easily available at your local DVD store. We all knew the war was coming and arrived it has.
We miss the whole Judgement Day, which was slightly disappointing and arrive at 2018 where John, minus any sense of humor, is holding the balance of the resistance together. It is a tough call the way Christian Bale plays John Connor, we all loved his sense of humor in T2 and his strength of heart that was learnt from his Terminator father figure. In this film most of the world is dead and machines are reigning so John Connor is all profession and no personality. I think Bale is the biggest let down of the film and is just boring. He has a few battle or fight scenes, but he is like a Terminator himself with no spark or even a reason for us to care for him in the film. I do admit though that he has watched his world and a few billion people be slaughtered so I won't hold it against him. The role is over played to show the weight on his shoulders, but was it worth it for his loss of self? I honestly think that Bale just put too much thought into this role. It's no biggie really - just kill bad guys! I understand he put in so much pressure for the role we all got to hear him lose the plot and nearly terminate a lighting guy onset. Bale is pure professionalism and I am hoping for him to shine in the following two installments. Just chillax Christian!
On the other hand the major player in this film is Sam Worthington, yay - go the Aussie, his acting is great and he has the heart and soul that Bale lacks and irony is.......he's a robot. I did find he had difficulty with numerous accents coming through with nothing solid but he is non stop watchable, you can't take your eyes off him when he is onscreen as his presence is astounding. This could be another reason critics disliked the film, Connor is not the lead, there are three characters that share it, Connor, Wright (Sam) and Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). But this is a triolgy starter and I think it was handled perfectly. Sam Worthington is on the Hollywood rollercoaster and with this film and his upcoming lead in James Cameron's Avatar he will soon be a household name.
To me the standout performance is Anton Yelchin, playing a young Kyle Reese. He is the person you bond with and hope survives, but from the other films in the franchise you know he has a pretty good chance. Yelchin is only 20yrs old and fresh off the bridge of Star Trek playing Pavel Chekov. I can see him going far and look froward to seeing him in the next installment of this franchise.
The film ties in everything we already know about the Terminator Universe and sets us up for the next two installments with anticipation. The writing is great, some more moments of emotion from Connor would have been ideal and what was the point of Connor's wife and unborn child, not required, although I am thinking a Terminator may come after them next visit. It was brilliant showing us how Connor got his scar and also hearing the famous lines "I'll be back" from Connor this time and also hearing Kyle Reese say the famous line "Come with me if you want to live". I did let out a little cheer. It was also great to see Connor attract a Terminator during a road ambush by playing his Gunners song from the start of T2.
The cinematography and color palate are brilliant and show us a mood of despair with plenty of greys and reds, this film is dark and I got the sense of living in a post apocolyptic world. There is plenty of CGI, perhaps too much for some, but this is sci fi and set in the future, something had to make these things viewable and I think the balance of CGI is used well. I would prefer the CGI just so I could see that bike chase scene - very cool! There is also plenty of shit blown up, some also have said that it is gratuitous and too much. But people, this is war, B grade sci fi style, if you want Saving Private Ryan then hire it out. I wish people would stop over analysing this film, it is what it is, B Grade sci fi we all love for things being blown up and bad guys killing good guys!! What are you expecting? Same goes for complaints on the occasional cheesy lines - see above re B grade sci fi.
One thing this film does prove to me, McG can direct something decent. Yay You!! I hope we get to see his vision for the future ones. The one thing he needs to accomplish for the rest of them is to give the audience more connectivity than this one provided. It lacks that connection we got from T1 and T2 - to me T2 is still in my top 10 films and this franchise has a lot to do to return that feeling to me but it's great and will appeal to males and females of most ages - not for the kids - too much death and scary stuff but no more than a Harry Potter Worth $13-. Out in Oz on June 4.
Surprisingly I absolutely loved this film. I have been reading over the last few days the scathing reviews coming from the US and they have not been pretty, but today, thanks to my friends at Sony, for allowing me to watch another movie after I hated Angels and Demons so much, I had the privilege of being one of the first in Oz to sit through this. And it was awesome!!
Terminator Poster
In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against... In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
Christian Bale Bryce Dallas Howard Terminator Salvation
The film also stars Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor, Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, Common as Barnes, and Jadagrace as Star.
Sam Worthington Terminator Salvation
This installment, the first in the new trilogy is very different from the other three films. For the sake of this story and my sanity let's say the third film, T3, never existed. It was crap anyway
. I think this may be one of the reasons that critics in the USA are bagging this one out. They were expecting another chase movie, the thing that made the first two films so succesful, this running from the inevitable and never ending machine version of the grim reaper. But people, if you want to watch the first two again, then they are easily available at your local DVD store. We all knew the war was coming and arrived it has. 
The Terminator
We miss the whole Judgement Day, which was slightly disappointing and arrive at 2018 where John, minus any sense of humor, is holding the balance of the resistance together. It is a tough call the way Christian Bale plays John Connor, we all loved his sense of humor in T2 and his strength of heart that was learnt from his Terminator father figure. In this film most of the world is dead and machines are reigning so John Connor is all profession and no personality. I think Bale is the biggest let down of the film and is just boring. He has a few battle or fight scenes, but he is like a Terminator himself with no spark or even a reason for us to care for him in the film. I do admit though that he has watched his world and a few billion people be slaughtered so I won't hold it against him. The role is over played to show the weight on his shoulders, but was it worth it for his loss of self? I honestly think that Bale just put too much thought into this role. It's no biggie really - just kill bad guys! I understand he put in so much pressure for the role we all got to hear him lose the plot and nearly terminate a lighting guy onset. Bale is pure professionalism and I am hoping for him to shine in the following two installments. Just chillax Christian!
Terminator
On the other hand the major player in this film is Sam Worthington, yay - go the Aussie, his acting is great and he has the heart and soul that Bale lacks and irony is.......he's a robot. I did find he had difficulty with numerous accents coming through with nothing solid but he is non stop watchable, you can't take your eyes off him when he is onscreen as his presence is astounding. This could be another reason critics disliked the film, Connor is not the lead, there are three characters that share it, Connor, Wright (Sam) and Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). But this is a triolgy starter and I think it was handled perfectly. Sam Worthington is on the Hollywood rollercoaster and with this film and his upcoming lead in James Cameron's Avatar he will soon be a household name.
Anton Yelchin Terminator Salvation
To me the standout performance is Anton Yelchin, playing a young Kyle Reese. He is the person you bond with and hope survives, but from the other films in the franchise you know he has a pretty good chance
. Yelchin is only 20yrs old and fresh off the bridge of Star Trek playing Pavel Chekov. I can see him going far and look froward to seeing him in the next installment of this franchise. 
Anton Yelchin
The film ties in everything we already know about the Terminator Universe and sets us up for the next two installments with anticipation. The writing is great, some more moments of emotion from Connor would have been ideal and what was the point of Connor's wife and unborn child, not required, although I am thinking a Terminator may come after them next visit. It was brilliant showing us how Connor got his scar and also hearing the famous lines "I'll be back" from Connor this time and also hearing Kyle Reese say the famous line "Come with me if you want to live". I did let out a little cheer. It was also great to see Connor attract a Terminator during a road ambush by playing his Gunners song from the start of T2.
Connor Reese and Star
The cinematography and color palate are brilliant and show us a mood of despair with plenty of greys and reds, this film is dark and I got the sense of living in a post apocolyptic world. There is plenty of CGI, perhaps too much for some, but this is sci fi and set in the future, something had to make these things viewable and I think the balance of CGI is used well. I would prefer the CGI just so I could see that bike chase scene - very cool! There is also plenty of shit blown up, some also have said that it is gratuitous and too much. But people, this is war, B grade sci fi style, if you want Saving Private Ryan then hire it out. I wish people would stop over analysing this film, it is what it is, B Grade sci fi we all love for things being blown up and bad guys killing good guys!! What are you expecting? Same goes for complaints on the occasional cheesy lines - see above re B grade sci fi.
Terminator
One thing this film does prove to me, McG can direct something decent. Yay You!! I hope we get to see his vision for the future ones. The one thing he needs to accomplish for the rest of them is to give the audience more connectivity than this one provided. It lacks that connection we got from T1 and T2 - to me T2 is still in my top 10 films and this franchise has a lot to do to return that feeling to me but it's great and will appeal to males and females of most ages - not for the kids - too much death and scary stuff but no more than a Harry Potter
Worth $13-. Out in Oz on June 4.| 83 |
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Comment by Rix
Comment by Jason King
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Hope you like it and thanks for being the only person to comment on this article so far.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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you are getting to sassy, Jason
i kind of suspected that Bale would be the big letdown, his Batman has no personality, and in those films they rely on the villains to be interesting, in Terminator the villains are robots so its like double personality vacuum
Comment by Jason King
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He is Batman in this film pretty much - just minus the costume. The voice is even now a deep husky whisper most of the time.
Sassy? Me?
But to be honest - I just know you will dislike this one. It will have too much CGI for you - Hehe
Comment by Morgan Bell
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maybe im one of the people who would be better off going to the local dvd store and hiring the old ones haha
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Then again, it's not like I'm going to have to wait long for my next fix of robot fighting. Oh, it's going to be a great couple of months for cinema.
Comment by Jason King
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Someone - totally - I am so excited, I am seeing a special screening of Transformers next week and am salivating with android anticipation.