Review of Terminator Salvation.
When I first heard that they were making a fourth Terminator, alarm bells went off, after the huge disappointment of T3. I didn't have high hopes for it!
Hearing that Christian Bale was going to play John Conner peaked my interest, he is an actor who immerses himself in the roles he does, although I was initially concerned with what this may do to his career, the memories of T3 and the fact that the director’s name was McG wasn’t encouraging, but I was pleasantly surprised.
This movie is what fans have been teased with in the first two movies. It is the story about the war, the smart thing about it is that they didn’t go too much into the future, so we don’t see lot of lazar guns but we see normal guns that fire bullets and the fact that sky net is also not very advanced yet, gives the story more room to develop the plot and show the audience how they got so advanced.
John Conner who we had all seen in the first two movies as this great leader is just a soldier in this, which was a smart move, this also injects some realism into the film because in any organisation you would have to start at the bottom and work your way up.
Everyone who had seen the first two movies would think that it would be safe to assume that John Conner was the main character, but they would be wrong, as the lead is Marcus Wright played by Sam Worthington. Marcus Wright who was a death row inmate and now is a cyborg who is seeking redemption above all else shows the conflicting nature of his character and begs the question what is it really that makes us human?.
His character does not know he is part machine until he is brought into HQ with Blair Williams, played by Moon Bloodgood. This idea of “sleeper” agents is not entirely new, and many Sci- Fi fans would recognise it from the popular TV show Battlestar Galactica. In this show they have the same dilemma about; what is it that makes us human? And of course the whole man V machine thing.
Also the very interesting and scary bit of the film was, how Sky Net now knows how important Kyle Reese is. This shows how much the future has changed because of the other Terminators being sent through time. This also links this film to the first two, something T3 was seriously lacking.
I did however miss the original music by Brad Fiedel, which was a shame; it did have some snippets but not enough to give me the sense of fate that the original brought. Every fan of the original Terminators would also appreciate the subtle references to the original like;1) the infamous words of “ come with me if you want to live” and “ I’ll be back”
2) The Guns and Roses song, “ you will be mine”
4) The Arnie Terminator at the end
5) Marcus teaching Kyle how to prevent his gun from being taken off him by tying string around it and finally the scars that John has at the beginning of T2 are explained.
To round up, this film ticks all the boxes, it has romance, action, an intelligent storyline and a moral centre, the only thing it’s lacking is accessibility, to people who didn’t grow up with Terminator may get confused by the timeline or the importance of this kid called Kyle Reese. But overall it was an excellent film and brilliantly acted but it may be too cerebral for some.!
The Day the Earth Stood Still, again a remake, is Hollywood running out of ideas or something? What can I say.. this was the perfect role for Keanu Reeves! As the director put it ‘he’s a very peculiar actor’. The effects were great, and just the right amount to tell the story unlike the new star wars movies (e.g Attack of the Clones) The bit that did make me laugh was his miracle goop in a jar that apparently would heal any wound, that is very useful! But the underlying theme is so relevant to the world today. Which is to take care of the planet, the funny thing is they were saying this in the seventies and they’re saying it now, but will we ever learn from our mistakes?
Mirrors, not a fantastic film and they thought they could overcompensate by having ridicules and over the top death scenes and a rather bizarre storyline. I am aware that it is a re make so the storyline being odd is not entirely their fault but the acting and effects didn’t help their case! The only reason I watched it was out of curiosity. And like the saying goes; curiosity killed the cat! It certainly made me regret wasting £10 to watch it, truth be told the only reason I did watch it, is to see Jack Bauer!! And it wasn’t long before that side of him came out. Don’t get me wrong, it did have moments that would make you jump but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone with more than half a brain!
When I first heard that they were making a fourth Terminator, alarm bells went off, after the huge disappointment of T3. I didn't have high hopes for it!
Hearing that Christian Bale was going to play John Conner peaked my interest, he is an actor who immerses himself in the roles he does, although I was initially concerned with what this may do to his career, the memories of T3 and the fact that the director’s name was McG wasn’t encouraging, but I was pleasantly surprised.
This movie is what fans have been teased with in the first two movies. It is the story about the war, the smart thing about it is that they didn’t go too much into the future, so we don’t see lot of lazar guns but we see normal guns that fire bullets and the fact that sky net is also not very advanced yet, gives the story more room to develop the plot and show the audience how they got so advanced.
John Conner who we had all seen in the first two movies as this great leader is just a soldier in this, which was a smart move, this also injects some realism into the film because in any organisation you would have to start at the bottom and work your way up.
Everyone who had seen the first two movies would think that it would be safe to assume that John Conner was the main character, but they would be wrong, as the lead is Marcus Wright played by Sam Worthington. Marcus Wright who was a death row inmate and now is a cyborg who is seeking redemption above all else shows the conflicting nature of his character and begs the question what is it really that makes us human?.
His character does not know he is part machine until he is brought into HQ with Blair Williams, played by Moon Bloodgood. This idea of “sleeper” agents is not entirely new, and many Sci- Fi fans would recognise it from the popular TV show Battlestar Galactica. In this show they have the same dilemma about; what is it that makes us human? And of course the whole man V machine thing.
Also the very interesting and scary bit of the film was, how Sky Net now knows how important Kyle Reese is. This shows how much the future has changed because of the other Terminators being sent through time. This also links this film to the first two, something T3 was seriously lacking.
I did however miss the original music by Brad Fiedel, which was a shame; it did have some snippets but not enough to give me the sense of fate that the original brought. Every fan of the original Terminators would also appreciate the subtle references to the original like;1) the infamous words of “ come with me if you want to live” and “ I’ll be back”
2) The Guns and Roses song, “ you will be mine”
4) The Arnie Terminator at the end
5) Marcus teaching Kyle how to prevent his gun from being taken off him by tying string around it and finally the scars that John has at the beginning of T2 are explained.
To round up, this film ticks all the boxes, it has romance, action, an intelligent storyline and a moral centre, the only thing it’s lacking is accessibility, to people who didn’t grow up with Terminator may get confused by the timeline or the importance of this kid called Kyle Reese. But overall it was an excellent film and brilliantly acted but it may be too cerebral for some.!
The Day the Earth Stood Still, again a remake, is Hollywood running out of ideas or something? What can I say.. this was the perfect role for Keanu Reeves! As the director put it ‘he’s a very peculiar actor’. The effects were great, and just the right amount to tell the story unlike the new star wars movies (e.g Attack of the Clones) The bit that did make me laugh was his miracle goop in a jar that apparently would heal any wound, that is very useful! But the underlying theme is so relevant to the world today. Which is to take care of the planet, the funny thing is they were saying this in the seventies and they’re saying it now, but will we ever learn from our mistakes?
Mirrors, not a fantastic film and they thought they could overcompensate by having ridicules and over the top death scenes and a rather bizarre storyline. I am aware that it is a re make so the storyline being odd is not entirely their fault but the acting and effects didn’t help their case! The only reason I watched it was out of curiosity. And like the saying goes; curiosity killed the cat! It certainly made me regret wasting £10 to watch it, truth be told the only reason I did watch it, is to see Jack Bauer!! And it wasn’t long before that side of him came out. Don’t get me wrong, it did have moments that would make you jump but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone with more than half a brain!
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