Terminator Salvation
As the most expensive independent production in history (apparently), Terminator Salvation picks things up as the fourth film in the Terminator series and the first film without Arnold Schwarzenegger (sort of). Directed by that venerable auteur McG, Terminator Salvation may be more known for the tirade of its star, Christian Bale, than it will be for any of its content, but it’s actually a half-decent action flick.
Bale is really at the core of this movie in a few ways, as McG tried really hard to court him for the role. In convincing him that Terminator Salvation was more about the character of John Conner and less about the swirling sci-fi action, the director was able to cast Batman in the role and get things movie. Bale insisted on playing Conner even though McG had him in mind for another role, so the script headed through rewrites to expand the part. Bale apparently also assisted in editing the final project.
The film opens in 2003 as Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) of Cyberdyne Systems convinces Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a death row inmate, to sign his body over to science for research after his lethal injection. He agrees and, years later, Skynet is activated and the humans are in big trouble. Fast-forward to 2018 and John Conner (Bale) is the leader of the Resistance against the evil machines trying to take out humanity.
Conner discovers that Skynet is looking for human prisoners to construct a form of Terminator machine with living tissue. After an attack on one Skynet base, Wright emerges as the only “survivor.” The Resistance, meanwhile, plans to launch another attack on another Skynet base when Conner figures out that the base is holding human beings. One of those humans is Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), who will later in some cruel twist of futuristic fate become Conner’s father. A plan is set in motion to get Reese out of the base. The true identity of Wright is also revealed.
There’s some fun stuff in here, like an action sequence involving an attack by machines at a gas station shortly after Wright connects with Reese for the first time. McG ably directs most of the action sequences, cutting down on his usual music video style in favour of a broader approach that seems to capture the scope of the movie. In terms of the intimate personal situations that he used to lure Bale, I was hard-pressed to locate any in this mass of sci-fi action and explosions.
Bale’s performance here is about as wooden as I’ve seen from him. While he does do impressive work from time to time, I generally find him to be an overrated talent. Things started off well for him with little pictures like The Machinist and Herzog’s Rescue Dawn, but Bale’s stilted and over-serious delivery here just isn’t interesting. Instead, it’s Worthington that really brings it home as a tortured soul trapped in the body of a machine. His ability to make his character matter is the highlight of Terminator Salvation.
The revelation of the T-800 Model 101 unit is fun, too, as Schwarzenegger’s 1984 facial likeness was used to create the digital makeup. It’s a neat throwback to see this thing attack Bale and it makes for an amusing action sequence late in the film. Using Linda Hamilton’s voice is also a nice touch that ties in to the other movies in the series.
Overall, though, Terminator Salvation is nothing special. While McG did do a better job than expected conducting this whole thing, most of the effects are just average and the acting (besides Worthington) is really nothing special. It’s a rather basic picture that tends to strike one note over and over again, but that note is generally fun and it’s an enjoyable enough project to mildly recommend.
Trailer:
