Terminator: Salvation

Terminator Salvation [2009]

Director: McG
Actor: Christian BaleSam WorthingtonHelena Bonham CarterAnton YelchinMichael IronsideBryce Dallas HowardCommon


Ever since the first Terminator was released in which snippets of the future were visible through Kyle Reese’s flashbacks to his time in the future (!?), I have been curious to see more about the future, about the resistance and their struggle in the war against Skynet. As a result I got very excited when this film was announced, and it didn’t disappoint, though I did have some criticism.

All of the acting is pretty decent, the visuals are good, the concepts are nice…everything is pretty good. Well, except the logic behind the story, but whatever, for a fourth instalment in a franchise, it was pretty fucking sweet. My main gripe with the film is that it doesn’t take its time. It’s the same problem I have with many McG/Michael Bay films (I swear, they’re the same person!), they drag you into the rollercoaster and it doesn’t stop until the credits roll. They take so little time to delve into the why and how of things. They throw fluff information at you while simultaneously assaulting your senses with explosions and shoot-outs. That’s cool when you’re there for the popcorn, but it sucks when you’re really taken by the franchise. When McG said that he wanted to make it more like Aliens, I was really hoping that he would have the same timing as Aliens did. Here and there they took the time to let the mood and the atmosphere of a moment sink in. Not so much in Terminator Salvation, unfortunately.

One of the things that I thought really stood out in the film is how they managed to bring alive all the machines. Not just the terminators, but all of the machines in Skynet’s arsenal. They gave them personalities, but not to the point of it being anything more than their hardwiring. They also gave them speech – sort of. There were a few scenes where there was a strong, loud, metallic, grating sound that felt almost like it was used to intimidate the resistance, or perhaps an audible communication device. I love it!

All in all, I really liked the film, even though it’s obviously flawed and didn’t come to fulfil its potential.

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