This week we are venturing out again to the Embassy Theater to see the latest installment in the Terminator saga, Tuesday 9th June 6:30pm.
Staring Christian “I’m Batman, shhhh!” Bale and directed by McG, Terminator Salvation picks up the story in 2018 as humanity regroups under the leadership of John Connor (Bale) after nearly being annihilated by nuclear war. It’s going to be gritty and intense.
Films vitals in short:
Title: Terminator Salvation (2009)
Director: McG
Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington
Genre: Action / Si-Fi / Thriller
1 Sentence Synopsis: After Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust, a group of survivors led by John Connor struggles to keep the machines from finishing the job. full summary
Runtime: 115 min
Release: 4 June 2009 (New Zealand
WFC: The Film Club for people who really love movies 
I don’t know how many people actually read our comments but I will quickly throw out a terminator review. This movie surprised me. I have to fight off the cynic, and its just hard to fight off Charlie’s Angels. But I think director McG took a good step and I was really impressed with some of the shots. Whoever was incharge of marketing the movie (the previews) did not. Part the beauty of the movie is destroyed with over exposure. Don’t give away too much of the story in the trailers, it changes the way your viewers watch your film. The story telling was a bit lacking in the film and there is some blunders in thinking. But in terms of the Terminator genre of movies, I think it fits right in there. No where close to Star Trek but a solid effort.
I give it 7/10.
Why not kick it off with some pros:
Realism – Well as much realism as you can get in a film about future cyborgs and their war against humanity. Weapons: Humanity seems to be using only the most basic of weaponry from the current period, with the exception of the Osprey VTOL aircraft. Makes sense if you buy into Skynet placing US Strategic Air Command at the top of their kill list. The basic weaponry helps support the idea that this is a guerilla war fought against a far superior force. Landscape: Well there doesn’t appear to be much left alive above ground after Judgement day. Oh and the desert reclaiming the highway, that was a nice shot.
Terminator classics: There were a coouple of shots and lines in this film which are directly attributable to the Terminator genre – but my personal favourite was the reversal of the T2 motorcycle vs truck chase. Everyone can remember the stone-cold, liquid metal terminator trying to run Arnie and John down with a petrol tanker. In this film the vehicles are swapped as Marcus Wright and John Connor’s father Kyle Reese aboard armoured truck are chased and harrassed by two mototerminators. Actually took me back to the original Terminator and the Governator chasing Sarah and Kyle Reese. Its funny how the chase aspects of these films have remained true to form throughout.
Cons:
The Story became pretty wayward at the end, altogether too emotive for a Terminator film, but it didn’t suck Monkey nads.
The Marcus Wright narrative was pretty damn obvious from the beginning of the film, harmed further by the sheer overdose of plot given away by marketing. There also seemed to be very little punch to Marcus’ moral dialemma at the tail end of the film. It was without any real challenge for him to overcome.
Christian Bale brought more than starpower to this film, he brought pressure and unfair expectations. Off the back of the incredible success of The Dark Knight, everyone wanted more Bale, but the reality is that without a seriously excellent script, Bale sinks under the weight of his own solemnity.
The War Film aspects of TS weren’t too bad, but a have a nit to pick about the portrayal of fighters in general. War does many things to people, but one thing it consistently does is force to the surface a black humour which soldiers use to cope with their trauma. TS was all trauma, all the time, no space left for even ironic humour. Talk to any veteran and you will quickly pick up how important humour is to morale, so for this film to be as wraught and tense as it is seems a bit forced.
Overall I liked the film but I gotta give it 6/10