Determinated

Terminator Salvation movie review

Score: 6/10

Before jumping into the the movie review, a couple of related points.

My wife is my movie conscience, my Jiminey Cricket. Sometimes I'll come out of the movie all jazzed about action sequences and cinematography, and she'll re-ground me that this should be about character and story, not just special effects and camera work.

Second, I have watched every episode from the superb Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on TV. Excellent show I highly recommend.

Third, I read the book Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes by Timothy Zahn. It was a prequel to the movie, and was not a very good book. Which made it a very fitting prequel.

So, on to the latest installment in the Terminator universe. It just wasn't very good. On my scale, a 6 means that something made it watchable and somewhat likeable, but overall it was a bit of a mess. I am not likely to ever watch it again, nor would I ever purchase it.

What worked: Short list here. The cinetography was very good at parts. There are two scenes (that I remember) that were one continuous shot (including one near the beginning where Christian Bale, playing John Connor, gets on a helicopter). They did some amazing things, and the effects were all very good, until the final 30 minutes. Not a good time for a very computer-looking homage to the original Terminator. Some of the acting was very good, including Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright. He stole the show from Bale and Bryce Dallas Howard (who plays Connor's wife, Sarah, and not very well).

What didn't work: Where to start. They story wasn't very good. I've heard that they wanted Bale for the part of Marcus, but he wanted to play John Connor. So the role was expanded. Whatever the backstory, the result is a disjointed plot. Bale and Howard turned in sub-par performances. Someone forgot to tell Bale he wasn't playing Batman. Connor should be an inspirational character, someone the human resistance fighting against the evil machines wants to follow. Instead he came off as a dark, brooding, humorless hero I wasn't even rooting for. I hardly felt anything for any of the characters, and in a movie that's asking you to care, I didn't.

Who would want to see this: People who enjoy good action sequences and cinematography. If you're into a good story, forget it. And if you were a fan of the Terminator TV show and were looking for similarly compelling drama, forget it.

Closing credits: I really wanted to like this. It had many elements that make a good movie for me: a compelling universe to play in; good actors; a big budget; a potential for heart-wrenching drama. But the connective tissue of a good story and good direction (sorry McG, you were the wrong guy for this) was missing. Am I OK that I spend money to see it in the theater? Yeah, it was entertaining enough. But if you have a good home entertainment system, I'd wait for DVD or Blu-Ray.