Action Movie Review: Terminator Salvation
Christian Bale Attempts to Revive The Terminator Franchise
Terminator 2: Judgement Day was a classic film, one in which Sarah Connor successfully averted the threat posed by Skynet and the Terminators. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was a train wreck; horrible acting and a mediocre script, based on the fact that Judgement Day was never really averted, but rather just delayed as it was inevitable, tarnished the franchise.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles started off weak, but in the end really did justice to the Terminator universe by delivering a gripping and inventive television show. Before Terminator Salvation was released, many wondered if it would continue to step in the right direction, or digress to the poor plot, all action mayhem of Terminator 3. In fact, it landed somewhere in between.
Terminator Salvation has Interesting Plot Elements and Plenty of Action
Terminator Salvation is basically a war film, but spiced up with a science fiction edge. The actual plot of the movie is actually very interesting, with some cool twists. These twists show how diabolical the machines really are in their bid to destroy humanity, and how weak and gullible humans truly are. What really steals the show, however, is the interesting and surprising appearance of Arnold Schwarzenegger that will please a lot of long time fans of the series.
The action in Terminator is great; there are plenty of things blowing up, plenty of innovative chase sequences and some good fight sequences. The only thing the film was missing, in terms of action, was a full scale battle between the Resistance and the Terminators.
Film Dragged Down by Flawed Characterization
Unfortunately, it was a lot of small points that really brought the film down. Firstly, the dialogue between Marcus Wright and Kyle Reese was completely unbelievable. Kyle essentially explains the situation of the world to Marcus without ever questioning why Marcus doesn’t know about Judgement Day. Marcus must have to have been living under a rock to miss it, or maybe lost his memory, either way it was never explained and, therefore, felt a little fake.
Secondly, where was the army of Terminators from T2? Where were the human skulls scattering the ground? John Connor infiltrates and launches an attack on Skynet’s American base in San Francisco and he only ever gets attacked by one Terminator; there should have been a lot more.
Just as incredulous is the way his men fly into save him without worrying about being attacked, something they were too scared to do throughout the majority of the film because of how dangerous it was to infiltrate Skynet. When they do land, they are met with almost no resistance at all from the Terminators. To top it all off Connor detonates a charge that destroys a whole bunch of nuclear power cells before even getting clear of the site, he could have easily killed himself and all his men. It all felt too easy.
There were quite a few other things that were pretty small, but when combined all together really dragged the film down. Poor character development, alongside some unbelievable dialogue and relationships, plus a lack of Terminator power stops Terminator Salvation from living up to the standard set by Terminator 2.
Terminator Salvation Pays Homage to Earlier Terminator Films
It is a Terminator film, so fans will be glad to hear such phrases as “I’ll be back” and “Come with me if you want to live,” and one of the coolest ideas was having the voice of the original Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, being played on a tape recorder by John Connor. All in all, however, it was the appearance of Arnold as a Terminator that made this film feel more like a Terminator film.
Concluding Thoughts on Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation had a lot of potential, great action and a twist-filled plot, but ultimately the lack of characterization really dragged it down. It is not the greatest Terminator film ever, but it’s not the worst either, it receives a 7/10 for a decent attempt at recreating the feel of a Terminator movie. See Bradley Kairis' Terminator Salvation Review for another take on the film.
The End Begins
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John Connor and Marcus Wright
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Terminator Salvation Movie Poster
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