In retrospect it seems ironic (or, perhaps, just plain wrong) that the man who provoked Christian Bale’s infamous wig-out on the set of Terminator Salvation was the film’s director of photography. Because the look of this fourth Terminator movie is pretty much the only good thing about it. Certainly, the film’s prevailing gunmetal tones perfectly fit a grim plot in which John Connor (Bale), his pregnant wife (Bryce Dallas Howard), and a mysteriously resurrected convict (Sam Worthington) fight an array of killer robots in a post-holocaust world. (Actually, the mystery of Worthington’s character was, unwisely, resolved in at least one of the trailers, but I see no reason to repeat that error here.) To be fair, my colleague Owen Gleiberman liked the movie more than me and director McG is not the first person who has failed to live up to a franchise standard set by James Cameron, maker of first two Terminator films. Witness David Fincher’s Alien 3 which followed Cameron’s sublime Aliens. However, Fincher’s effort was at least interesting. Terminator Salvation, on the other hand, is both an unbelievable snooze and simply unbelievable on more levels than even the infinite space afforded by the internet has room for me to recount. Finally, I found it impossible to care about what happened to characters this thinly sketched. In particular, the three-dimensionality of Howard’s role pretty much begins and ends with her bump. It is also tempting to say that even Bale appears, for once, to just be phoning things in except (a) we have evidence that he wasn’t and (b) the last thing I need is for that guy to get mad at me.
What did you think about Terminator Salvation? Did it live up to Cameron’s Terminators? Hell, did it live up to Terminator 3?
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Not planning to watch this film, but I love Anton Yeltin, so I may shell out matinee price just for him.
Terminator 3 was waaaay better than this garbage. I was so disappointed walking out of the theater.
Terminator Salvation is a bad movie. Terminator 3 is infinitely better.
I liked the action sequences except for the climax because it was just a shot by shot rip off of the second movie, but yeah this is my least favorite…and to think that there are two more still to go…
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I was disappointed by the lack of story and also that the resistance had to be coopted by those military dudes in the sub. I mean whats with all the jigh tech BS? Those in the resistance seemed flat and one dimensional. The best part of the story was when that chick busted Marcus out of resistance HQ.
I accepted it for what it is: a loud, mindless and fun summer action blockbuster. People are expecting too much of a thought-provoking experience or something. This is a summer popcorn flick, not an Oscar contender.
I give it 3 out of 4 stars.
i want to marry Anton Yelchin lol he was the only reason i sat through the film
I’ve never seen any of the Terminators. But I think ale was the wrong casting choice. He’s too recognizable as Batman. To play another iconic character like John Connor is odd.
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How McG was ever given the reigns to a big summer movie like this is still a mystery, it wasn’t good at all.
I had fun at “Terminator” but managed to laugh at several very inappropriate moments (BTW, so glad Bale wasn’t there, because I would have gotten sworn at more that the DP). Star Trek was much more legitimately fun for me. But I also really like Night at the Museum 2. Totally different experience/standard, yes, but Museum managed to exceed my expectations.
This one failed even to be a good popcorn movie, IMO. Plenty of action, yes, but you really do need *some* story, even for a check-your-brain-at-the-door flick. I wanted to hurl something at Bale for using his Batman growl; it’s bad enough in the Batman movies! Don’t get me wrong, I love Bale and the Batman flicks, but he made it even harder to accept him in the Terminator universe. And what’s up with Will Smith’s kids showing up everywhere? Are they not rich enough yet? SHEESH.
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It wasn’t great, but it’s certainly not the outright travesty that Phantom Menace or Indy 4 were.
Despite the dull story, there was STILL a lot of cool action throughout, and Arnold’s cameo at the end was worth the price of admission alone.
DavidJ, you do realize that wasn’t really Ah-nold, but CGI, right? I think there is some law about sitting governors not being allowed to participate in movies, but even if that’s incorrect, what we saw was quite obviously CGI.
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I really enjoyed the movie – was confused for the first 10-15 minutes then figured out there were two different guys involved. Much better than the third terminiator movie ya gotta agree on that!
“Owen Gleiberman liked the movie more than me” Why should Owen dislike YOU?? Try “Owen Gleiberman liked the movie more than I” (meaning, more than I did). Thanks for your co-operation in preserving what’s left of the English language.