upon leaving the theater after a midnight screening of the latest entree in the terminator saga i left asking myself several questions. some of them seemed a bit outlandish to think. is our technological society going to bring about our own demise? the people behind this film seem to think so. and the other question that was left in the back of my mind is this: what makes one human? for those of you who know this is the fourth film in a series that obviously doesn't follow logic. the continuity behind some of the story in this one seems to make one question. this is the plot according to warner bros when it released this on the first of may:
The year is 2018. Judgment Day has come and gone, leveling modern civilization. An army of Terminators roams the post-apocalyptic landscape, killing or collecting humans where they hide in the desolate cities and deserts. But small groups of survivors have organized into a Resistance, hiding in underground bunkers and striking when they can against an enemy force that vastly outnumbers them. Controlling the Terminators is the artificial intelligence network Skynet, which became self-aware 14 years earlier and, in the blink of an eye, turned on its creators, unleashing nuclear annihilation on an unsuspecting world. Only one man saw Judgment Day coming. One man, whose destiny has always been intertwined with the fate of human existence: John Connor (Christian Bale). Now the world is on the brink of the future that Connor has been warned about all his life. But something totally new has shaken his belief that humanity stands a chance of winning this war: the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger from the past whose last memory is of being on death row before awakening in this strange, new world. Connor must decide whether Marcus can be trusted. But as Skynet adapts new strategies to end the Resistance forever, Connor and Marcus must find common ground to take a stand against the onslaught—to infiltrate Skynet and meet the enemy head-on. (Wikipedia: Entry: Terminator Salvation)
with this being the case the film starts off by focusing on the death row inmate mentioned above. why? it doesn't make sense to me and won't to you until you reach a much later part of the film. this segment takes place in the past (even to us, 2003). the actor Sam Worthington, of whom very few people would ever know of before this film, tries his damnedest to make this character more than one dimensional like most of the others. the story just lacks quite a lot to it but once you get past it then its acceptable.
there is one thing this film does perfect, it's action. from the first war segment with connor and his men going into a skynet hive so to speak and all hell breaking loose the film just cuts loose. it's as if michael bay was secretly apart of this project. odd his name isn't on the billing. as the movie continues the stunts get crazier and more insane and the film relies on cg to carry it significantly. but it is very well done to be honest.
on to the score; danny elfman, who most noteably is known as the guy who does the scores for tim burton films had little to work with but what he did felt like a lot of his other stuff, which in itself is a bit good and bad. but what the film did wrong is it didn't fully utilize elfman's score too much in the film, and in some segments when it did it was undercut or too low for anyone to hear it.
the acting; this is the heart and soul of the imagery we see. the cast is made up of a wide variety of names from christian bale (batman, the prestige) who plays john connor to bryce dallas howard (spider-man 3, the village) who plays his beeotch and pregnent wife. anton yelchin (star trek, charlie bartlett) plays connor's teenage father kyle reese (you should know this if you saw the first film). common who happens to be a rapper turned actor also attempts to save face in this film. a lot of the acting in this film seemd to be one dimensional. bale seemed a bit to angry and was fueled by that anger throughout the film, but you know it makes sense that he would be that way. yelchin was annoying throughout the films as his voice sounded like he was just going through puberty but it doesn't excuse him from doing a mediocre job. howard seemed to have very little to work with in the first place so her trying seemed a bit out of the question. as for common well you can assume that a rapper turned actor obviously isn't going to give you the best results
but we can't blame the acting as much as we can blame the writing. the dialog is what suffers here in this film, it's what will be the bane of it. as we can tell there is several easter eggs in the dialog giving homage to the man who made the franchise himself, arnold. but low and behold those simple quotes do not make a movie, no you need actual conversations that develop the characters and you know what, there wasn't a lot of that. this movie expected you to know what they were all motivated to do and how they were supposed to feel. bale, who in my opinion is going to have a bright future and is a great actor, seemed to be off of the map, as if he was a ghost of his former self.
if this film had slightly better writing it could be in league with the prequels that were actually good. the lack of arnold helped the film believe it or not because back when three was filmed arnold was naught but the shell of the man he used to be so it lacked that punch. at first i was hoping bale would be the perfect replacement but i felt a slight bitter taste in my mouth when i realized that they didn't focus on connor as much as they did worthington's character marcus wright.
in the end the movie may have brought up it's point. maybe through the lack of acting or a story but it drove it's point clear to me at least. what defines us a human? what makes us different from a calculating machine or an animal? do we not have basic instincts that we go and fullfill when we feel the need? are we not calculating and cool when it comes time to make decisions? i have to say this film is worth a watch for fans of the series and those who really don't know it that well. it has potential to be more than what it aspired to be. if only they took more time on it to polish her up
my grade is gonna be a C
by the way for people intersted there is a sequel on the way, already in pre production
oh and just so you all know some easter eggs are in the film
Terminator Love Song:
Black 20's Transforminators!
there is one thing this film does perfect, it's action. from the first war segment with connor and his men going into a skynet hive so to speak and all hell breaking loose the film just cuts loose. it's as if michael bay was secretly apart of this project. odd his name isn't on the billing. as the movie continues the stunts get crazier and more insane and the film relies on cg to carry it significantly. but it is very well done to be honest.
on to the score; danny elfman, who most noteably is known as the guy who does the scores for tim burton films had little to work with but what he did felt like a lot of his other stuff, which in itself is a bit good and bad. but what the film did wrong is it didn't fully utilize elfman's score too much in the film, and in some segments when it did it was undercut or too low for anyone to hear it.
the acting; this is the heart and soul of the imagery we see. the cast is made up of a wide variety of names from christian bale (batman, the prestige) who plays john connor to bryce dallas howard (spider-man 3, the village) who plays his beeotch and pregnent wife. anton yelchin (star trek, charlie bartlett) plays connor's teenage father kyle reese (you should know this if you saw the first film). common who happens to be a rapper turned actor also attempts to save face in this film. a lot of the acting in this film seemd to be one dimensional. bale seemed a bit to angry and was fueled by that anger throughout the film, but you know it makes sense that he would be that way. yelchin was annoying throughout the films as his voice sounded like he was just going through puberty but it doesn't excuse him from doing a mediocre job. howard seemed to have very little to work with in the first place so her trying seemed a bit out of the question. as for common well you can assume that a rapper turned actor obviously isn't going to give you the best results
but we can't blame the acting as much as we can blame the writing. the dialog is what suffers here in this film, it's what will be the bane of it. as we can tell there is several easter eggs in the dialog giving homage to the man who made the franchise himself, arnold. but low and behold those simple quotes do not make a movie, no you need actual conversations that develop the characters and you know what, there wasn't a lot of that. this movie expected you to know what they were all motivated to do and how they were supposed to feel. bale, who in my opinion is going to have a bright future and is a great actor, seemed to be off of the map, as if he was a ghost of his former self.
if this film had slightly better writing it could be in league with the prequels that were actually good. the lack of arnold helped the film believe it or not because back when three was filmed arnold was naught but the shell of the man he used to be so it lacked that punch. at first i was hoping bale would be the perfect replacement but i felt a slight bitter taste in my mouth when i realized that they didn't focus on connor as much as they did worthington's character marcus wright.
in the end the movie may have brought up it's point. maybe through the lack of acting or a story but it drove it's point clear to me at least. what defines us a human? what makes us different from a calculating machine or an animal? do we not have basic instincts that we go and fullfill when we feel the need? are we not calculating and cool when it comes time to make decisions? i have to say this film is worth a watch for fans of the series and those who really don't know it that well. it has potential to be more than what it aspired to be. if only they took more time on it to polish her up
my grade is gonna be a C
by the way for people intersted there is a sequel on the way, already in pre production
oh and just so you all know some easter eggs are in the film
Terminator Love Song:
Black 20's Transforminators!
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