Dark "Salvation," bright future

Rating: 9/10 (25 May 2009)

"Terminator Salvation" is nowhere near the disaster it could have been, and I say that as a hardcore fan of the "Terminator" franchise. I had never seen the two "Charlie's Angels" movies that "Terminator Salvation" director McG was behind, but I was aware of his history as a music video director and the trouble that could rain down upon "Terminator Salvation."
The verdict is that McG pulls through, even though his music video sensibilities worked their way into the film's numerous action sequences. That also being said, this movie is very well-made and looks fantastic. While this is certainly a "Terminator" for the MTV generation (fans of the movies made in the '80s and '90s may suffer some vertigo while watching this), McG's faults don't really show that much, even while his movie is a crystal-clear example of how low Hollywood's standards have fallen in recent years.
I'm not bashing "Terminator Salvation"; I'm simply proving a point about how well-made it is, considering the fact that any movie that is well-made nowadays can still be complete crap. And the movie is also well-acted and damn thrilling. Lastly, it's also pretty smart (with the way it handles the various time travel paradoxes present in the series, that make the impossible seem possible with enough thought). McG has also played down the significance of conversations he had with "The Terminator" (1984) co-writer and director James Cameron, in which it was widely rumored that Cameron had given the film his blessing, and that turned out not to be true. The real truth is, Cameron has never seen the movie, so he can't comment on it.
"The Terminator" is my favorite sci-fi movie of all time. While "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991) was a vastly superior sequel, I personally felt that it repeated many of the plot devices from the first movie, and the injection of light-hearted humor tended to take away from the sense of urgency pervading the movie. "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" (2003) was good, but in a brain-dead way that while it continued the story, it was just a big dumb movie with little redeeming value.
"Terminator Salvation" returns some of the darkness and grit from the first "Terminator" and gives it a big, 2009 MTV gloss-over. While I am certain that a director's cut is on the way that will give some sense of continuity to the series (all the previous movies were rated "R," while this one is "PG-13"), I think that any restored footage will give this picture even more darkness and grit, that will further give it a sense of continuity in the greatest sci-fi series I've ever come across.
This film is set in 2018 (11 years before the future that we knew in the first movie), 15 years after killer machines controlled by Skynet, a rogue computer system, will wage a war to exterminate mankind. It sent human-looking cyborgs, called Terminators, back in time to eliminate the future leader of the human resistance against them, John Connor. First they tried to kill his mother Sarah Connor, and then him as a child and teenager. Now, John Connor (Christian Bale, still doing his one-note Bruce Wayne/Batman thing) is a low-ranking member of the TechCom resistance, serving under the gung-ho General Ashdown (Michael Ironside).
Elsewhere, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) awakes in a Skynet computer outpost and somehow or another crosses paths with John Connor later in the movie. Connor, meanwhile, is leading a search to locate Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), the teenager who will eventually become his best friend and - get ready for it - his father; only through those time travel paradoxes is this possible - see "T1" for reference. Marcus Wright is a peculiar specimen: the last thing he remembers is that he was on death row in the year 2003 awaiting execution when he was approached by a cancer-stricken Dr. Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter), who wanted his body donated to science. Needless to say, Wright meets Reese first, leading to events that are already well-known to fans of the series everywhere.
This is the first movie I've seen this year that I've felt my money was well-spent. I really liked "Star Trek," but I thought it was instantly forgettable. "Terminator Salvation" is memorable, but I don't think it will be memorable in the same way the first movie was. This is a great, great movie; if a director's cut ever comes out, it will be even better. The great thing I always loved about the "Terminator" series was its anti-Cold War subtext and commentary on a society that is rapidly becoming more and more mechanical at an alarming rate. Conspiracy nuts fearful about a cybernetic revolution should look no further than the "Terminator" series.
Like most people have said, the best thing about "Terminator Salvation" is Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright; sadly, Bale's one-note performance makes the most important character in the movie the least interesting character. His performance is great because rather than him becoming an object of fear and horror, he's an object of sympathy. (You'll see halfway through the movie, if the previews haven't already given away his big secret.) The other revelation is Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese; this is the first time Reese has appeared in a movie since "T2" (the extended version, at least). Reese has always been my favorite character, so it was nice to see someone else besides Michael Biehn play the role; Biehn's role was successfully passed to young Yelchin.
"Terminator Salvation" proved to be the "salvation" of a series some had thought was done for good, even after "T3" was not so good. It's not a classic, but it is a worthy entry into this great, great sci-fi series that I love so dearly.
P.S.: Look out for an artificial "cameo" by the original Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, with Scharzengger's face digitally added onto the body of Roland Kickinger.
9/10