AMB Reviews

Terminator Salvation: 7/10 Stars

Release Date: May 21, 2009

Content Advisory: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action and language. There is pretty much constant, non-stop action throughout. Many are shot and killed, many large explosions, and some fist fights. We briefly see bloody dead bodies. Many are beaten up, shot at, or taken by large robots. Robots smash and destroy towns and severely injure several of the main characters. However, besides the one instance noted above, it all remains bloodless. Several minor curse words.

Review:

From the first viewing of the trailer, this movie had intrigued me. It looked quite similar to "Transformers." And considering how much I enjoyed that movie, I just had to give this one a shot.

In Short:

"Terminator Salvation" is a prequel, though it is very hard to figure that out, as several key elements made it seem like a sequel. This film stars Christian Bale and John Connor, the one who can supposedly save them all from the war against man and machine. The machines are programmed by an organization named Skynet, who is trying to wipe humanity off the face of the Earth. The movie started off weird, and had me wondering if it would really be worth it, picked up towards the middle and ended up with a bang. It all left me breathless, which in this case, wasn't necessarily a good thing.

In Full:

The year is 2018. Skynet, a ruthless organization bent on destroying the human race has issued a war on humanity. Their enemy? Machine. In other words, humans are fighting robots that are often very difficult to kill. A man named John Connor has been declared the only one able to save the human race. But Connor isn't the only star here. Sam Worthington also joins the cast as Marcus Wright, a seemingly human man, who is really similar to an indestructible robot. Now, with war raging on, the humans must team up to stop the robots from taking over the world. This simple and unoriginal plot all adds up to one great excuse for constant action violence.

Christian Bale stars as John Connor, and I must give him props for his performance. It would be a miracle if his voice didn't wear out on him during filming. It seems that in every scene, he's screaming at someone or something. Now, it does get pretty annoying at times, but he seemed to have a grip on his character. Sam Worthington, though virtually unheard of, was great as Marcus Wright, and I would've never known he was new to the acting business. Also included in the cast is Anton Yelchin and Moon Bloodgood, who deliver fine performances as well. We even see Helena Bonham Carter in a brief, yet stunning role.

The visuals is where this film really tries to impress the audience. From the start of the film to the ending battle, there seems to be nothing more on screen than constant action violence. The explosions are a feast to the eyes, while the battles are intense and realistic. Sure, it is human vs. robot here, so I guess it's about as real as you can get with that. Those looking for an action joyride are sure to find more than what you're looking for here.

Notice how I said "more" in the previous paragraph. That's because it often felt like there was too much action. Not once did the film stop at all to elaborate on any characters or messages. It was clear that the film tried to bring up points for viewers to think about, but with explosions and gun battles taking place at the same time, the message never seems all that clear. It was obvious that the ending tried to provoke thinking from the audience, but I can definitely tell you that I, and everyone else around me, left the theater thinking about the ending fight, rather than the ending message.

I will say this... "Terminator Salvation" is a lot of fun to watch. If I am ever in the mood for a hard-core action film, this would definitely be my first choice. From beginning to end, there's really nothing but action. But for me, it was just a little bit too much. Any points the movie tried to make were obliterated in the near constant explosions, leaving the viewers with simply a fond recollection of the magnificent visuals. Everything else, however, was lost in the continual raging gunfire.