Terminator Salvation

A little better than the third part, but not by much. McG’s direction is fine, so are the special effects and the performances (Worthington is great and Bale plays second fiddle with his unlikeable Connor), but the script is a shame. There’s a lot that happens without any clear cause or motivation, the characters don’t have a clue about many important things, but they don’t care and carry on. Of course, it’s effective and nice to look at (the scene of the attack on the petrol station is awesome), but the moment they start speaking, things go south. Phrases like "We must protect our future! ... I do it to save all mankind!" today feel like something out of an old B-movie, especially when they are uttered for no other purpose than being uttered, i.e. with no reason or factual logical connection to previous (and subsequent) events. To be clear, though, I’m not that disappointed, Salvation is a solid action flick, but it could’ve been a lot better. (04/06/2009)

McG actually surprised me in a good way. If I set aside the fact that it stylizes a large part of the exteriors as a backdrop for videos by KORN or some other nu-metal band, T4 has a pretty solid atmosphere. The dialogues are not action-packed - the few "philosophical" branches fit into the trailer, which is quite a performance. T4 offers nothing more in terms of lasting pleasures of the spirit. After a year, Sam Worthington again carried out a big movie theft, and once again the victim is... tatadadaa... Christian Bale. But he himself is to blame this time. Someone should really have explained to him that Connor is NOT a Terminator with an implemented depression chip. Unlike the single-shades of his more famous colleague, Worthington is able humanize his character and provide him with something unforgettable... If we disregard the robotic mentality of the plot and the background of thought, there are still a lot of solid action scenes (but not ballbusting scenes), a nice atmosphere and, for notorious nostalgics, also beautiful memories (for me the most are Gáni roaring from a cassette in the apocalyptic wasteland). I'm having second thoughts: On one hand T4 is soullessness, but on the other I had a great time and wondered what it would be like if someone who could do more than just serve fancy pictures got a hold of it... In this way, I have to conclude that, although unreal, the dehumanization and urgency of Cameron's childhood backdrops of the future remain unsurpassed. Indeed, is really the human heart that sets us apart from machines. McG is an overhead terminator. And faulty can screenwriters. Bah! (21/05/2009)

The fourth Terminator is somewhere between the visual purity of T3 and the grandeur and fatefulness of T2. You can almost feel through the TV screen the physical action scenes, which have bombastic sound and precise editing. Similarly, the dirty and uncertain future is portrayed with appropriate dark music and excellent lighting. McG also treats the viewer to several knockouts in the form of brilliantly shot scenes and various camera tricks. But the last act is not good, with a finale that is logically simple, overly terse and in the context of the preceding events, not sufficiently epic. The characters are fine and technically gripping. It’s a pleasant bridge to the next installment, which I can imagine. (05/06/2009)

Arnold is back (for a while) Arnold is back (for a while), although in a quite different movie this time. Salvation has little to do with the original trilogy, well… other than being a sequel to it. But the real powerhouse turned out to be Cameron's dark horse Sam Worthington as Marcus. He’s the only one who moves the main storyline forward. The rest is just filler until what's about to happen happens. I also believe that Bale was only given the role of Connor because he comes across good and leader-like and can create a depressing atmosphere with his hoarse voice. By the way, I barely noticed Bryce Dallas Howard. McG shot an impressive action sci-fi (with robots from Sam Winston's mind), but it can’t touch the Terminator saga. Maybe because I realized this from the beginning, I kind of enjoyed this fourth part. (18/06/2009)

How an interesting subject can be turned into a pretty mediocre bore. I don't know why, but sometimes I had to grimace at their conversations, speeches. But what really annoyed me was that everybody's favorite shaky cam à la documentary style. Nothing against it, for example in Children of Men it was really useful, but here it's useless. Like I wanted a good look at what was going on, but was told: "Sorry, baby!". Sure, some things were good, but the lighter moments can't save a movie that's supposed to be Something. The only thing I was honestly pleased with was the "rubber" imitation of Arnie's face, I enjoyed that special appearance. (19/06/2009)