Movie Review Monday: Terminator Salvation

Happy Monday to you! Yeah, I know, I dislike Mondays as well, but what are you going to do? So, I finally got around to watching Terminator Salvation. Now, first off, I want to tell you that I absolutely love the Terminator films. So if you don't, then you won't like this one either. The first Terminator film was an amazing concept. The fact that a machine just kept coming after Sarah Connor, a simple waitress, and just wouldn't stop, even after it was just an upper torso with no legs, scared the crap out of me. The effects were awesome & Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, very quickly became one of my favorite heroes. T2 I saw in the theater opening weekend & was completely blown away by. T3 I rented due to no Sarah Connor in the film, but really enjoyed. (No, really, I thought it was great!) That leads us to my review of T4 or Salvation. This film was directed by McG. I love & dislike some things McG does in his movies. He obviously has a love for the Terminator mythology and it was really great to finally move into the time where John Connor is the legend we have heard he becomes. I'm not a huge fan of Christian Bale, but I think he was a fairly good choice for the role. McG didn't do any harm to the original mythology, but he really didn't give us any great new moments or aspects to add to it. I thought that using Helena Bonham Carter as the face of Skynet was pretty cool. I almost wish he hadn't let us in on who Marcus was in the past until later. Knowing from the start that he was a terminator left what could have been an exciting twist, unexciting & predictable. We could have learned of his past little bits at a time through clues or something, but instead we followed him all the way from start to finish knowing full well what he was & what he was going to do. It was nice to see how Kyle came into the storyline. I also enjoyed that John listened to the tapes Sarah had made for him as well as the moment John hands Kyle the photo from the original Terminator movie. I think Bale's acting was a little emotionless & confused at times. My biggest problem with the movie was the over the top explosive scene where Marcus & one of John's team try to escape John's hideout. John & the others have made it very clear that they are hiding from Skynet, Terminators, & Hunter Killers in bunkers & small pockets of resistance all over the world. They have magnetic mines & people on watch all around their hideout, yet once Marcus tries to escape they put on a fireworks show that you could see from Mars. They needlessly waste ammo, lose a helicopter & team members, & light the night sky up brighter than the fourth of July just to try & prevent this terminator/man Marcus from getting away. The worst part is John has just admitted right before the scene that he feels like Marcus is telling the truth. That he is a good guy. The whole scene screamed of a scene inserted in the middle of an otherwise solid story just to blow stuff up & waste a bunch of money. As if some executive came in & said "You need more action...more explosions". If they were really hiding & ammo, people & vehicles were really that important & John had really been as smart or as good of a leader as we had been lead to believe, he would have NEVER done this. The explosions & ruckus would have certainly allowed Skynet to pinpoint their location & eradicate them. I was really into it until that scene. From there it was really quite predictable. Everything you think is going to happen does. Still, overall it was fun to finally end up in post nuke earth with John Connor. I think the story could have been deeper & more emotionally driven, but it was a fun ride. However, be warned, this movie really isn't about John Connor, or Skynet, or the Terminators. It's really about Marcus & getting a second chance to right wrongs. Everything is really about him and it is Marcus we follow from beginning to end. Overall, if you like the Terminator movies, go rent it. I'd probably give it a C. This has been your movie review Monday!