Terminator Salvation - dir. McG

Terminator Salvation is a film of missed opportunities. On Thursday, Our Man of the Antonii, 5MinJim and the Talented Mr Akhtar went to see it with, it has to be admitted, a fair degree of trepidation due to the poor reviews that the film has been getting.

Our fears were proved right. As an action film, Terminator Salvation works fine. The good guys and villains are clearly delineated (when your enemy is called terminator it would be hard for them not to be), there were some great action sequences and special effects and a good amount of tension.

Unfortunately, we are not talking about any old action film but the Terminator franchise. As befitting its status, every film has to give more than other action films. The narrative of the first film and special effects of the second did that, but this one doesn't. I can't speak of the third, by the way, because I haven't seen it.

What Terminator Salvation does give are references to the previous films. For example, all those Terminator turns of phrase that we have come to know and love from the first two - and probably third - films. I'll be back... Come with me if you want to live... There's no fate but what we make... 

There is also the famous photograph of Sarah Connor, taken at the end of the first film. Linda Hamilton reprises her role as John Connor's mother in a series of tape recordings - made at the end of that film. 

This is all very well and good, but does the film offer anything new? Well, in a character named Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) we meet the missing link between man and terminator. If we could see Terminator Salvation as being about him rather than John Connor, I think it would quickly become a better film.

Apart from Marcus Wright, however, there is not much else that is new and good. In my opinion, the big problem is with John Connor (Christian Bale) and how his role has been written. He is portrayed as any old resistance commander. But he is supposed to be a semi-messianic figure. How he achieves this status is not explored. Perhaps it was in Rise of the Machines? One gets very little impression that Bale's Connor is anything more than a good commander. 

With that said, there is lots else that is left unexplained by this film. Connor has a pregnant wife. What is the story there? If Skynet's headquarters are destroyed, how is it able to operate?

Ultimately, Terminator Salvation is definitely strongest when looking to its past. Thus, it is good to see a young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). He is given a good amount of screen time which does allow him to develop his character. What really makes him special to watch, though, is the knowledge of the central role he will play in John Connor's life. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appearance towards the end of the picture is also a treat - if a cheesy one.

Terminator Salvation falls short of the standards set by T1 and T2. However, it is worth watching for the gritty camera and effects, Marcus Wright and the quite literally smashing action sequences.