25 Years Later...

Now, for the second installment of my 3-part Summer Blockbuster Analysis. Today we will be looking at Terminator Salvation. While I can’t say that I liked the movie that much, I can say it was better than the critical beat down it suffered at the hands of journalists and bloggers. The first I heard of the new Terminator movie was at some point two years ago, probably during a theatrical trailer prior to The Dark Knight. I was initially very skeptical about the project, but kept an open-mind.

Pros:
- Sam Worthington, an Australian actor plays the role of Marcus Wright, who is a human turned cyborg. Go figure he was recommended for the role by James Cameron, the visionary who created the first two Terminator movies. We also share a birthday. Look for his next big role in Cameron’s Avatar
- Nice surprise pseudo-cameo towards the end of the film, that’s all I will say
- Moon Bloodgood is gorgeous
- As always, I get way too excited by trailers, especially this one that features NIN: Deceptive!
- Bale digs deep into roles and the added aggression led to his "freak out" on the Director of Photography...which led to the Youtube Dance Remix

Purgatory:
- Ron Howard’s daughter was neither good, nor bad. Just there.

Cons:
- Weak story. The action scenes did not justify a poor plot.
- Bailing on the R rating for $$$.
- Christian Bale mails in his performance, he blends a little Batman voice, with a bit of weight loss and zero emotion. Very disappointing from one of my favorite actors.
- The story did not utilize some of themes from the original Terminator, the movie did not really highlight on the “chase” aspect of the first two and was also void of humor. Humor plays a critical role to the success of the first two films.
- McG did not do much to enhance the quality of this film, he should go back to directing music videos for Korn

After watching this, I made sure to make it up to my eyes/brain/ears by viewing both Terminator & T2. These two films were created in ’84 and ’91, respectively. It was just a disappointment to think of the 25 years that have passed since the original and this is what McG and co. produce. The original Terminator had sooooo much vision and creativity. This film, similar to T3, was destined to fail due to unrealistic expectations. It reminded me of a darker version of Transformers.

Overall: Wait for Redbox/Netflix…or as a cure for Insomnia in 4 years when it is on Spike TV in the 1am to 3am spot.
Alternative: The third installment will give you one alternative. Another is to rent one of the first two Terminator films, make sure to check for the James Cameron seal of approval.

Terminator Salvation
“The End Begins.”
Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Other People…including annoying Michael Cera knock-off Anton Yelchin
Directed by McG
Written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris (Catwoman & Primeval…should have known…to be fair they did write The Game)
Run time: 115 mins
Shot in: New Mexico

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438488/
terminatorsalvation.warnerbros.com



5 Goobers. Uninspired.