TERMINATOR SALVATION

TERMINATOR SALVATION (Warner Bros.)
Directed by McG

As quickly as films hit the big screen, often in a blitzing manner, there’s not a lot of time to relish in the current state of Hollywood, no matter what new blockbuster is hitting theaters. That’s the hard truth when it comes to film these days, so it’s no secret there’s a host of franchise’s, that for the most part, have been forgotten. TERMINATOR is one of the forgotten, at least to me, as it’s been over six years since the last installment, T3, which not only still had its star in Arnold Schwarzenegger, but pretty much completed what I thought to be a successful trilogy overall. Sure, I felt they could keep going with the series, but once Arnold took office in California later that year as Governor, those feelings vanished without a trace. But, here we are again with yet another version of this series surfacing, only this time; TERMINATOR SALVATION is both a prequel and sequel, which really gets your mind going when it’s all said and done, in what I saw as the perfect way to bring this series back from the dead.

Picking up, sort of, when we last left off, the year is 2018, shortly after a nuclear holocaust put into motion by Skynet, ending pretty much all of civilization. Skynet, for those that don’t know, is an artificially intelligent defense system, that turned on its human creators early after existence, ultimately finishing all human existence by using weapons of mass destruction over and over again. The story here centers on the activities afterward and the man in the middle of everything was John Connor (Christian Bale), soon-to-be leader of the “Resistance,” an underground group of survivors’ hell bent on bringing Skynet down. After surviving an assault on a local Skynet base, Connor uncovers a twisted subplot by the machines involving the development of the T-800, along with the capturing of humans and eventual transport to Skynet’s main North America headquarters in San Francisco for reasons unknown. Unsure of why, Connor returned to base in hopes of tracking down one of these so-called transports and saving the lives of the captured, both on the transport and off within the actual Skynet headquarters.

However, in doing so, he would need help and that help came in the strangest of places after Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) showed up at his doorstep with one of his fallen pilots Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) in tote. Wright wasn’t just a lost soul, though, having just been through quite the journey himself, after running into a very key piece to the overall diabolical plot by Skynet, in Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), after dying some 15 years prior. But, that was just the beginning, as Connor found out, for Wright was the new breed of machines he was out to stop. A machine so complex, that Connor questioned everything he knew up to that point, as it was essentially a hybrid machine that looked and thought it was human, when everything inside them told a different story. Unsure of whether to put this machine to sleep of let it go, Connor chose the later in hopes Wright would lead him right where he needed to be, which was inside Skynet headquarters. But, that was just the beginning to this collision course of infiltration where both Wright and Connor would find out their destiny, no matter who stepped in front of them along the way, all leading to a conclusion full of twists and innuendos that might leave your jaw on the floor.

Unknowingly given the task of resurrecting yet another franchise, you couldn’t have hand-picked a better lead than Christian Bale. This guy clearly is on top of his game these days and shows it on and off the set, no pun intended. The intensity he brings is uncanny, reminding me a lot of Tom Cruise, but he also is able to dial it down when needed and with this character, you need both, given all of John Connor’s conflicting past and present memories over the years. But, Bale is able to take it all in stride after creating one of the best versions of protagonist character we have seen and one we might see again very soon. Adding to Bale was a host of characters pretty much filling in where needed, including a very special cameo, but there was one who stood out among the rest. And that was Sam Worthington, a guy many have never seen, unless you come from Western Australia, by way of Perth, the very same city the late great Heath Ledger hailed from. And I think if Ledger were still alive, he might be proud of his fellow Aussie, in what he was able to do with this role as Marcus Wright, a character in many ways that was more prominent than Bale’s own Connor. Worthington was able to bring in all the emotion of a guy who died some 15 years prior to being reborn into a different body and world for that matter.

Although, having seen the three predecessors’s to this series, I wouldn’t call myself a serious fan like some. And who knows, maybe there isn’t a serious fan to this series, but either way, I wasn’t chomping at the bit to see TERMINATOR SALVATION. In fact, the only thing that made me want to even give it a chance was the fact Christian Bale was starring in it. Maybe that’s a shallow reason, but it was mine walking into the theater and frankly, it might have helped keep my expectations at a decent level. I think that was important, given the history of this series and how insane the action and special effects can be, but it was all held in check here. Director McG (WE ARE MARSHALL, CHARLIE’s ANGELS) made sure to keep the action simple and in one take most instances, from what I here, as he wanted to make as few as cuts as possible. The result was one smooth action sequence after another; all shot with crafty angles and color, making the look and feel of it among the best of the bunch. And that was surprising given how easy it is to go over the top with a film like this, but overall it was quite difficult to find anything wrong, as it all just weaved so perfectly in and out of the well crafted script by John D. Brancato & Michael Ferris. I guess if there was some sort of weakness, it was the fact there wasn’t more storytelling mixed in, as you just couldn’t help but wonder how it all got to this point, despite the events leading up to this point in the evolution. But, maybe we get to that the next time, as I here there are talks of a 5th piece to what is now a rejuvenated franchise.

TERMINATOR SALVATION might look like just another summer blockbuster out to make a few bucks, but underneath it’s much more, unleashing its fury for the past, present and future. With a cast led by Christian Bale, special effects that will have you on the edge of your seat, all anchored around a story and soundtrack that is better than imagined, there’s just not a whole lot to dislike with this film that will surprise you in more ways than one.

A