The film has its surprises, but does not bother, as it is respectful of the established chronology, but does not add anything new for the franchise

Rating: 7/10 (23 May 2020)

After the controversial third film, which insisted on continuing a theoretically closed story in the second film and that brought some incongruities in its script, the duo of screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris are once again responsible for the fourth film in the franchise "The Terminator", now under the direction of McG, produced by the Halcyon Company, which bought the rights to C2 in 2007. This is the first to happen after the nuclear holocaust caused by Skynet, with actor Christian Bale as John Connor the future leader of the resistance and Sam Worthington as the cyborg Marcus Wright. The film also features a Kyle Reese from the first "Terminator" as a teenager, played by Anton Yelchin, as well as showing the origin of the T-800.
The script, written in four hands by John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris, also responsible for T3, goes to great lengths to maintain mythology, insert elements and especially new robotic creatures and, at the same time, give a personal and global character to the fight against the machines, with the obvious intention of pleasing various types of public and, therefore, perhaps, not pleasing any. "The Terminator: Salvation" invests heavily in the post-apocalyptic tone, betting on desolate locations and new types of threats to establish a tone of urgency fundamental to the effectiveness of the story - and thus we soon met several new "exterminators" ", From aquatic robots to flying, passing by others that resemble motorcycles and, of course, a gigantic one that seems to be inspired by Transformers. With this, the action becomes practically uninterrupted, replacing the development of characters or even the plot with increasingly elaborate sequences that depend on visual effects and big explosions to work. The writers also add a new character - controversial, but which in theory does not contradict the chronology - who is not just the "exterminator of the time": Marcus Wright, a death sentence in 2003 who wakes up in 2018, finds that his bones have turned to metal and want to understand why.
However, he exaggerates himself in the exhibition (a term used to designate how the film gives us essential information about the story) because the directors feel the need to explain to the viewer each of the new exterminators, to create a subplot for Marcus, a dilemma of "second chance" ... The amount of implausible things is piling up to the point of unbearable. Starting with the coincidence of Marcus running into Kyle; for Kyle, a boy, to be number one on Skynet's "wanted" list; The simple fact that Skynet is after Kyle and John, thus, for free, no longer makes sense, as Skynet would have no way of knowing their future. At the same time, John Connor's bow is missing pieces and what bothers him most: McG made no effort to show why Connor was considered a kind of messiah. The character is revered without any explanation and do not come to say that it is only because he is the son of his mother, as this does not seem enough for the degree of idolatry that he receives throughout the projection.
Primary errors are notorious when using, for example, overexposure as a narrative resource, since, in addition to the introductory sign, it still depends on off-line narration, tapes recorded by Sarah Connor and, even worse, a long explanation provided by Helena Bonham Carter in the third act. As if that were not enough, Brancato and Ferris let absurd holes pass, such as the fact that Kyle drives perfectly although he makes it clear that he never drove a car before (something McG could have circumvented through a few plans that illustrated the boy's unpreparedness) and - infinitely worse - Skynet's refusal to kill Reese after imprisoning him, as this would put an end to the eternal persecution of John Connor.
On top of that, we have Christian Bale who doesn't convince like Connor. The actor has a big problem. As much as they try to turn him into a star, he always ends up overshadowed by others. If in The Dark Knight (2008), even though Batman, all the spotlight went to Heath Ledger's Joker, now it ends up in the background, despite the status of protagonist: Worthington is the highlight, and practically the only one to get some kind of more enthusiastic reaction from the audience. He is the element of surprise, which will account for the best turns and lead the audience to situations that will define the course of the characters. Yelchin, on the other hand, works just like Kyle Reese, especially when he starts speaking the phrases we know from the first film. After all, who doesn't remember "come with me if you want to live"? Certainly T4 makes several references to pay homage to the first two films as much as possible, but, in doing so, it gets stuck in a pre-determined structure that the script itself tries to detach itself with the introduction of Marcus Wright. However, the premise that guided the previous features remains: in the middle of the biggest dispute with the machines, a life needs to be preserved at all costs. This time it's not Connor's, but his father's, Kyle Reese.
The most important thing to stand out in this continuation is that it messes with affective memories of the franchise and explains what was still a mystery in the previous films. Throughout the initial trilogy, war in the future was shown only in quick flashes, which placed us in the critical situation experienced by humans (especially as shown in the first film in 1984), and further hinted at what that life was like at that time, but without make it totally explicit. This time, we can emerge even more in a story that takes place entirely in the future after the nuclear holocaust and in the midst of the war between humans and machines. We got to know the Human Resistance command center and the bases scattered around the planet, the precarious conditions in which people lived with the scarcity of food and resources, how the attacks against the machines and the rules of that war were organized (avoid leaving at night not to be located by machines that used infrared). In this respect, director McG, photography by Shane Hurlbut and production designer by Martin Laing are effective in portraying that future as bleak and hopeless for humanity. All we see are rubble of buildings and entire cities in ruins denoting the massacre suffered by the human race. The images and makeup are dirty, showing the constant climate of war. The darker photograph further reinforces the tone of loneliness, abandonment and what it is like to live in fear that a machine will discover and exterminate them. Here, the machines also don't use human skin to infiltrate people. The idea of a metal endoskeleton walking and programmed to slaughter humans makes the sight much more threatening.
McG focuses on telling a story about the human being. In a world inhabited by machines, it is precisely in the most crucial moments of the plot that questions concerning man are put to the test. Not just in acts of courage, but in decisions, thoughts and fears. It is precisely in the figure of the mysterious Marcus (Sam Worthington) that these elements are best represented. In a devastated world, staying human is often one of the biggest challenges. Although it lacks the creativity of the sequences conceived by James Cameron in the first two films, this fourth chapter is clearly superior to the third in the "action" category. The first action scene involving John Connor (Bale) is quite intense and graphically interesting, with the would-be savior showing off in a very virile way, as expected from the hero who would be Earth's last hope, as Kyle Reese of Biehn in Terminator. Connor steps on the head of the mechanical carcass of power, symbolizing the hierarchical order established between him and his enemies, perhaps at the moment of more intelligence in the script of Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato. The chase of the various robot-killing robots to Marcus and Kyle is sensational, but it happens very early in the film. It is also worth saying that McG, normally a filmmaker unable to have a more ambitious idea, surprises especially in the long shot that, even in the first act, brings Connor into a helicopter, being hit by the shock wave of an explosion, falling with the device and leaving the cabin - all without apparent cuts. And if Danny Elfman's soundtrack (another irregular member of the team) explores the theme composed by Brad Fiedel reasonably well, the sound design of the film is the only really exceptional element of the project, deserving to be recognized in the awards season.
"Terminator: Salvation" is neither surprising nor thrilling, staying most of the time away from the audience. The good action scenes immediately refer to other equally competent ones (there are sequences that seem to have been removed entirely from any Transformers), the director seems frightened by the responsibility of continuing something created by Cameron himself (who directed the first two films) and even the big cast, which still has names like Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jane Alexander (four times nominated for an Oscar), cannot create greater empathy. It is better to go far and watch the two features that started this mythology and that, at least, have something to say. The film has its surprises, but all of them are wired from the beginning. It does not bother, as it is respectful of the established chronology, but does not add anything new. And the result, despite all the explosions, running and chasing, is to provoke yawns.