Summer Review #1 -- Terminator Salvation

One of the most anticipated movies of the year, the latest installment in the Terminator franchise explores the very future that the entire saga stems from. It takes us to the world that the past films have only alluded to -- the actual war between humans and Skynet, the malevolent computer system that caused a nuclear holocaust a little over a decade earlier. It also takes us to John Connor ascending the ranks on the way to his prophecized role as leader of the resistance, allowing us to find out just what kind of soldier he has turned out to be. The upside of the movie are its action and depictions of Skynet; however, too much action and too many depictions of Skynet also represent the downside, coming at the cost of the story and character development much too often.

John Connor (Christian Bale) is not the first character we encounter; rather, it is Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) who, after having been on death row, wakes up in an obliterated California years later and starts piecing back his fragmented memories, meeting jaded young warrior Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) along the way. In the meantime, Connor is mostly dealing with the post-nuclear society's political hierarchy, often clashing with hardliner General Ashdown (Michael Ironside) and his military comrades. Throughout it all, he has the unwavering support of his small faction of soldiers, including wife Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard), right hand man Barnes (Common) and pilot Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood). After learning about Skynet's latest operations and about Ashdown's plan to destroy the system at the cost of human lives, Connor and his team decide to go against the orders, but they do not expect the upcoming turn of events...

I never would have pegged McG as the director to continue the franchise, and the film proves that he was unprepared for the task. The first half introduces the characters with a lot of potential. Of course, everyone wants to find out about the adult Connor; Wright is a mystery waiting to be unraveled; and Williams seems to have some secrets of her own. Unfortunately, the second half is mostly action-oriented, leaving humans in the dust. The effects are exciting -- explosions rock, planes clash, fires burn, Skynet machines are bigger and meaner -- but they are nothing we have not seen before. The first two Terminator movies were impeccable in striking just the right balance between charting human relationships and fusing them with innovative action. The latest one seems lost in its gleeful desire to show off cool toys, rather than a well written and directed movie.

Contrary to the choice of director, I thought that casting Bale as Connor was the perfect decision. Bale possesses a quiet-yet-commanding quality that we could already sense in Terminator 2's Connor and which we have seen in the actor's numerous startling performances, starting with Empire of the Sun and ending with The Dark Knight. Still, the lightweight screenplay relegates Connor to secondary player, mostly due to the unexplored connection between the way he sees himself and the way his team members regard him; indeed, the most emotional scenes are the ones in which a despondent Connor listens to his mother's fading voice on a derelict tape recorder. It is Wright who manages to overshadow Connor in the heroism department and it is Worthington who manages to outact Bale. He displays endearing roughness as Wright, a character whose desperation at redeeming himself turns him inadvertently into something that his worst nightmares could not have conjured up. Yelchin's Reese is a picture of honour and survival instinct; we can see why he is the one chosen by Connor to go back in time and save his mother's life. The supporting cast are not given much to do, although Bloodgood commands quiet intensity as Williams and Jane Alexander is gracefully authoritative as head of a ragtag group of scavengers.

Terminator Salvation is a noble attempt to continue the saga and a pretty competent action movie in its own right. Regrettably, its enthusiasm is mostly focused on its visuals, losing sight of the mythology that precedes them.

6/10