Terminator: Salvation
Terminator: Salvation
McG | USA | 2009
130 min
Terminator: Salvation (or T4 for salivating fans) is an ultra serious, brooding, post apocalyptic action/war movie. Previous installments were never this grim or dull, even in the face of certain defeat. This makes the many explosive moments in Salvation (and there are many) almost seem like relief. They make us forget the joylessness of it all and remind us that we are supposed to have at least as much fun as we’ve had watching any of the previous Terminators. In that respect, this fourth film is a let down, but with many redeeming elements.
The most prominent of them is the joy of discovering the actor Sam Worthington in the role of Marcus Wright, a Terminator machine with human tissue, skin and appearance. In the opening flashback scene we learn of his past as a criminal. Later (it is 2018) he wanders lost and aimless, rescued by Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, remarkably reminiscent of Michael Biehn), himself searching for members of the human resistance led by John Connor (Christian Bale). Connor has a personal interest in ensuring the safety of Kyle, who will grow up to travel back in time and meet his mother (this is explored in the original James Cameron Terminator) and this is all you need to know.
The film has many thoughtful, though not very original, battles between the rag-tag human crew and their more superior AI opponents. Little time is spared in exploring any backstory, for Salvation expects and appreciates that viewers are sufficiently well-versed in the series mythology and timeline, and this is one of its achievements. Director McG is adept at handling both the brisk drama and the more showy explosive segments, the latter being his obvious forte. It’s the script that falters, especially in the second half where it recycles the man versus machine fights from previous Terminator films. Perhaps the films biggest weakness is that in retrospect, it feels like a very small, unimportant segment of the continuing saga. There is a rogue robot that suffers a crisis of conscience (and identity), meets up with the resistance, and helps them out in a plot that has many disconnected strands. This includes learning that the human resistance commander’s are laughably holed up in a submarine, a goofy ‘cameo’ by a CGI Arnold, and a dreary atmosphere straight out of the Mad Max/Matrix series. There is no definitive moment; even when Kyle utters the immortal lines “come with me if you want to live”, it is staged for show, not effect.
In an era of movies continuing as commercial franchises, this films title becomes meaningless. In Cameron’s original film and its superior, pop culture -making sequel T2, Terminators were machines sent into the past to terminate. (Even the third film, Jonathon Mostow’s much better Rise of the Machines, honoured this concept.) Whether Wright is the “Terminator” of this series is questionable –- he has the traits of the machines but a human heart; this provides some (though not a lot of) moral/machine dilemma, but is essentially nonsensical and at tangents to what the series was always about. It is also somewhat ironic that the actor who brings charismatic humanity to a role is Worthington himself, playing a machine. In the way that the story evolves, I felt more empathy for him than anyone else, especially when he is ruthlessly hunted down by humans. He more than impresses when squaring off against uptight, Bale (mostly barking orders, lacking versatility), whose most entertaining lines were probably those heard online in his leaked onset rant. The machines that the resistance fight have a ‘cool’ factor initially, but this novelty soon wears out -– they are far too simplistic, almost dumb. Is it a surprise then to anyone then that humanity triumphs in the end?
This article was tagged as: New Films
I was totally disappointed after watching this movie!! Never could think that Terminator series will go begging in this way, but you cannot expect more in such sequels. I found the originality of the Terminator concept missing. Although it was pleasant to see Arnold (or someone like him) at the end! I liked the concept of Human machine (which actually suggests that heart controls the nervous system, and not the brains, lol). All in all, it is worth watching once and once only. Cheers from Qatar
For most of the people who have spoken to me about this movie, they seem to like it. Yes, not the expected Terminator movie, especially in the absence of any real Terminator, but they all (without exception) have liked the movie.
In a sense, I think McG succeeds by making a movie that is such a departure and yet liked by the audience. Equalling or even holding up against the Cameron movies was an impossible task – and the main reason T3 got bad reviews. What he does here is set up a completely different format by (1) setting it up *during* the War of the Machines instead of the present day, and (2) by shaking off the necessity to have an Arnold Terminator for the entirety of the movie — something which is physically not possible now. As Fizz mentions in his review, this is now about the Mythology that the title represents rather than the character it referred to. Another two days and we come to know of the Box Office potential that this has, and the possibility of the two sequels so talked about. If they do get greenlit, then McG has done himself a favour in setting up the format, the world, the characters and the expectations for what is to come. If (and a strong If) the sequels do what this movie did in a little better way (especially with the Kyle-Connor dynamics), then McG is possibly looking at the new generation also becoming fans.
For me it’s the weakest in the series … soulless, loud action movie, no one-liners worth remembering … it’s barking orders, lots of shooting, explosions … and again, and again
… btw check out “Dirty Deeds” for a really good performance of Sam Worthington … and yes they should have played the Bale outrage when the end credits were rolling (thats humor!) … this previously R-rated movie frachise needed his f-bomb desperately … cos since when do people not swear in war … LOL not even a FRACK!
… and I was wondering … what’s the explanation that Kyle is younger then his son John ?
As far as I remember in Part I Kyle was sent from the future to protect Sarah Conner aka future-mum of the hero. He impregnates her and the baby is John (but he was not supposed to shag her, was he ?)
In part II mum is in the loony bin, John is a rebellious young boy and Arnie is send from the future to protect young John cos we learn he’s gonna be a valuable asset of the resistance in a few years.
In part III John is a bit older then in part II as time progresses in-between, he’s on the run, and Arnie is back again to protect John and his soon-to-be wife Kate. Ok so far so good.
Now a few years later – it’s 2018 – we are in part IV. John is a bad mutha of a grown man with a big gun, his wife Kate is pregnant with John jr.
Ok, so how does a YOUNG Kyle fit in ?
I haven’t seen the first two flicks in years so I might not remember key details but it’s bugging me that in part IV there is no time wasted to explain a little bit for those who are not into the terminator-mythology.
So wassup with this Kyle dude ? I asked several guys after the screening and they all shrugged with their shoulders …
I guess I’m quite latein replying to your post, Markus, but here goes:
In the future, some year (20xx), Kyle is sent back by the Resistance leader John Connor to the past, before he is conceived, to protect her. Kyle ends up becoming the father. So, following a time-loop, Connot knew that he was sending his father back so that Connor himself could exist. (Time paradox – can’t do anything there)
In the new movie, when Bale’s Connor learns that Kyle is a target, he finds and protects him. He needs to, for his own survival, because (if there is a Part-5) a few years later, Connor will send this Kyle back in time. But if Kyle gets killed before that, Connor himself won’t exist, and an alternate time-line will be established.
Since the events of T4 are, in Kyle’s timeline, before he’s gone back to the past to meet Sarah Connor, he is still a young fighter. In a few years, he will grow to a more able man who fights the first Terminator-Arnie.