Terminator: Salvation (2009)

Terminator: Salvation is the fourth film in the science fiction franchise Terminator, and focuses on the future war between humanity and the machines. It has all the trappings of a summer action film - loud explosions, loud music, and a great mix of high speed chases and melee fights. Alongside all of the flash of the futuristic war, the film tells the story of John Connor, and tries to fill in the gaps in the long-standing franchise’s story. No, you don’t need to have watched the older films, although that would surely have helped in understanding the characters and their situation.

The machines in the story are controlled by SkyNet, the former military artificial intelligence which, after being activated, turned sentient and started believed that humans were a threat to its existence, and therefore must be subjugated. Skynet controls an army of Terminators - powerful robots whose purpose is to crush humanity and put them under machine rule. On the other hand, John Connor (Bale) is one of the leaders of the human Resistance, who has been hounded since his youth by Terminators sent from the future (events depicted in the other films), as SkyNet determined that he was the future leader of the humans, and thus, their biggest threat. The Resistance seems to be fighting a losing war, until a lucky break in the form of a powerful signal that disrupts the machines is discovered.

The film also depicts a younger version of Kyle Reese (Yelchin), the protagonist from the 1984 Terminator film, who meets and helps a mysterious man, Marcus Wright (Worthington). Both of them want to meet John Connor, as Kyle idolizes Connor as one of the leaders of the Resistance, and as Marcus is looking for answers - his last memory was being sent to death row an entire 15 years ago. What happened to him, and to the world, since then? The fates of Connor, Reese, and Wright are intertwined, as the war between humanity and the machines reaches a boiling point.

The Terminator film franchise, at its core, deals with destiny, and how we can play into its strings, or take control of them. However, Salvation is not able to explore this theme very well, save for a couple of lines of dialogue here and there. Instead, the film focuses on action sequences  (which were excellent, btw; of note is the truck/Terminator motorbike chase) and solid special effects. The Terminators were especially well-done, including depicting the origin of the T-800 model, the “classic” Terminator played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

T:S is a pretty good summer action film to satisfy your craving for explosions and chases while Michael Bay’s Transformers sequel isn’t out yet. However, it suffers from the admittedly convoluted timeline of the Terminator universe, which can alienate non-fans. Truth be told, there are also few surprises in the main plot, but considering its weird state as both a prequel and a sequel to the other films in the franchise, that can be forgiven. The film’s simple plot might still be a chore to keep up with for those unfamiliar with the back story, although the film is paced well enough to allow viewers to keep up with the key points.

Christian Bale headlines the film, but his performance does not really stand out, although that is through no fault of his. The John Connor of the old films (especially Edward Furlong as a teenaged Connor in T2: Judgment Day) is now lost in time, as Bale’s Connor is a hardened soldier, no longer running, but facing his destiny head on. Bale is able to execute it decently, but the biggest crime that Salvation commits is that it once again, just like it’s predecessor, the oft-maligned T3: Rise of the Machines, fails to capture the heart that was present in the first film and in T2. While watching the film, I just couldn’t get the feel that I cared for the heroes of the film, and just spent each moment awaiting the next plot development, or the next chase scene, or the next “ZOMG GIGANTIC TERMINATOR!” moment.

The makers hinged most of the emotional side of the film on Marcus Wright, who, despite a solid performance from Sam Worthington, just isn’t able to connect that much with audiences. This is a new character we don’t really care about much - after all, isn’t the franchise supposed to be about John Connor? Also, despite being able to boast of great visuals of a post-apocalyptic Earth, and the state of the remnants of humanity, the film is not able to capture the terror present in the first Terminator film, where a single cyborg manages to create so much terror and so many problems. In a future filled with the forces of SkyNet, the film is not able to effectively depict the hopelessness of humanity (both those who try to survive and avoid the wrath of SkyNet, and those who fight back as the Resistance), and how John Connor will be the uniting figure, the savior that SkyNet so fears.

The rest of the cast were able to put together a decent ensemble to somehow have some hope for future films. Anton Yelchin (who played Chekhov in the recent Star Trek adaptation) removes his over-the-top Russian accent for his role as Kyle Reese, and was able to portray the young Kyle effectively as an untrained rebel. Moon Bloodgood steals her scenes as the trademark strong female lead present in most (all?) the Terminator films. However, some of the cast were underused. Bryce Dallas Howard does what limited good she could in her (surprisingly) small role as Kate Connor (her pregnancy, featured in the trailers, isn’t really mentioned much), and thankfully doesn’t grate on us like Claire Danes did in T3. Jadagrace Berry as the mute sidekick of Kyle Reese was effective enough to elicit a few more ounces of audience sympathy, and Common as Lt. Barnes of Connor’s forces was simply built for these kinds of roles. I was surprised at Helena Bonham-Carter appearance, though. I didn’t know whether I would laugh or be mystified, although she played her role well.

This is one of those movies where the ride is just better than the destination. It was very splendid visually, and was shot pretty well, but just about matches the fun factor of a simple, relatively generic SF action film. However, despite this not being an epic (not by the furthest stretch of your imagination), I still think that it’s a decent continuation of this classic SF franchise, and honestly can’t wait for the next sequel. It suffers from being essentially an origin story, and one can only hope that next films will be able to entertain much better.

*****

P.S.

I loved the references to the other films that they were able to put in, like the Terminator stepping on the human skull. But it was the lines that were cool/hilarious (in a good way):

• Kyle Reese, to Marcus: Come with me if you want to live.
• John Connor, to Kate: Tell them… ‘I’ll be back.’