Since U Didn't Axe Me: "Terminator Salvation" (2009) Review

It is now 2018, 14 years after the event known as Judgment Day, and humanity is struggling to survive against the scheming Skynet and its Terminators. John Connor (Christian Bale) is a member of the human resistance, and finds himself questioning his mother's advice about the future. Connor stumbles upon Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a human/machine hybrid, and must decide whether he is a friend or foe. Moreover, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, Rest in Peace 😢) has been captured by Skynet and taken to its headquarters. With no support from his commanding officers, Connor heads to Skynet Central to rescue Kyle Reese in order to save himself and humanity.

"Terminator Salvation" (Never understood why there's no semicolon) was written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, and directed by McG. The odds are stacked against this film because James Cameron is again not involved, and "Salvation" departs from the typical car-chase "Terminator" template. Instead, this movie takes place after the events of Judgment Day, and much of the color has been sucked out of the film--literally! But it looks pretty cool. Does "Salvation" succeed on its own as a post-apocalyptic war flick? I would say it falls somewhere in between.

There are a good amount of cool action sequences to enjoy, and the explosions contrast well against the bleak background.

Starring, Christian Bale as John Connor, Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, and also Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor, "Terminator Salvation" seems to have a good cast to give the movie some weight. A CG Arnie makes a cameo near the end of the film--it's kind of meh.

As far as the acting goes, Bale is just okay as John Connor. Christian Bale just came off of his stint as Batman before taking this role, so for some reason he does his gruff Batman voice. Sam Worthington--fresh off his success with "Avatar"--is pretty good as Marcus Wright. He slips back and forth from his Australian accent to a sort of American accent--it's distracting. Anton Yelchin does an admirable job as Kyle Reese, I thought he was also good in the film. Bryce Dallas Howard doesn't have much to work with here, but she is serviceable here--nothing to write home about--she at least physically resembles Kate Connor from "Terminator 3."

"Terminator Salvation" separates itself from the series by focusing on what happens after Judgment Day, and I really enjoyed that about this movie. Unfortunately, I feel like "Salvation" falters with its choppy editing (in the beginning scenes in particular), and from its character interactions and dialogue. The motivations behind certain characters' actions just seem sketchy, and it make the plot seem really stitched together. It's obvious that there were a lot of rewrites during production, and not to much a butchering by whoever edited this movie. As a result, John Connor is almost a side character, and Marcus Wright takes the spotlight--it's a bit odd.

This was one of the last films that Stan Winston and his team did visual effects for, and the movie was later dedicated to his memory. That being said, the effects look excellent in "Salvation," and some of the Terminators seem to have a "Transformers" influence to them. Overall, it's apparent that the VFX team put in a lot of hard work, and this movie looks great because of that.

"Terminator Salvation" is on par with "Terminator 3" in that it makes a solid effort, but unfortunately falls short. The film feels cut and pasted together, and the character choices plague its runtime. It's not entirely a bad movie, but it's a weak entry in the franchise.

*On a side note, there's a director's cut of this movie, but it doesn't make things any better. There's an extended scene when Connor meets with his commanding officers, some brief nudity, and a bit more violence.*

The Good-