Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation

At last I got to see Terminator Salvation after the evil North Americans got it a whole half week before the civilised world (jealous, me?). I’d read a fair few negative reviews both from across the Pond and from here in Blighty. So how did I, Joe Public, react?

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Judgement Day has come and gone, as detailed at the end of Terminator 3. We join the story as John Connor (Christian Bale this time) is working his way up through the ranks of the resistance, but not before a little scene-setting…

Unlike the trailer, which gives away one of the only plot twists in the film, I’ll try to keep this review spoiler-free. The expected character list is present and correct, carrying on from the previous film. Connor is now married to Kate (played by the impossibly well-coifed Bryce Dallas Howard – seriously, where would she get lipstick post-apocalypse?) who is a doctor. Makes sense given her veterinary background. She’s also heavily pregnant though this isn’t even mentioned during the movie. Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, who also plays Chekov in this summer’s new Star Trek film) is elsewhere and still a teenager, not the fully-fledged soldier we encounter in the first Terminator movie.

The major new character is Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a convicted murderer (before Judgement Day) who finds himself dumped into the middle of the action. He’s a nice new addition to the Terminator canon.

No surprises, it’s an effect-fest which makes the most of the improvements in special effects since the old days of Stan Winston (who the film is kindly dedicated to). It all fits together well. McG carries the sense of motion he filled the two Charlie’s Angels films with, only transfers the setting into the Fallout-esque scenery of 2018. The action scenes are fast, frenetic and far superior to the epileptic mess that was Quantum of Solace. It is possible to film a chase scene without the camera changing viewpoint every 0.83 seconds.

Yeah, there are gaping plot-holes even though there is no time travel involved. Sure, it’s somewhat predictable (name me a film that isn’t these days). But who cares? It’s a ride. And an impressive one.

Honestly, I don’t think Cameron would have done a better job. McG isn’t a bad director judging by his action film pedigree and I think Terminator 5 – whatever it ends up being called – is in good hands.

Note that the story follows on fairly well from the last film, but pretty much ignores the Sarah Connor Chronicles TV show. This isn’t surprising, though it does seem to be what’s lead to most of the unfavourable reviews elsewhere. A lot of people sound like they’d have preferred another series of that than a fourth motion picture. I’m greedy – I want both.

At least the cancellation of the former has been offset with a very enjoyable latter. Just don’t try too hard with the plot and you’ll have a great time.

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