By Dash Jordan
Over $70 million was accumulated in the Fall of 1984 due to what would later be considered by many to be one of the most important sci-fi action films of all time. In the Summer of 1991, the human race would witness its sequel which was aesthetically, critically, and financially superior; ranking in over $500 million worldwide. Audiences around the world would remember ‘The Terminator’ and ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’. In the year 2003, moviegoers will witness a new nightmare…no, not ‘Freddy vs. Jason’, but The Rise Of The Machines
Ever since the epic fail of the highly-anticipated letdown, Hollywood sent two new ‘Terminator’ movies into the future; which would be our present…or past, I guess. I don’t know, wibbly wimey…timey wimey. The first new sequel was sent to the year 2009, and was meant to be the first of a new trilogy…it failed. The second was meant to spawn a new ‘Terminator’ trilogy as well, but was instead sent to the year 2015…which IS our present. As before, the ‘Terminator’ fanbase was able to send a lone reviewer…a protector for the fans. It was just a question of which one I would review first…
Now, it’s just another question of why the fans don’t like this one.
Dash Jordan here, and with ‘Terminator: Genisys’ now out in theaters, I thought it perfect time to get something off my chest about one particular movie. As I mentioned before, the first two ‘Terminator’ movies were masterpieces and are considered by many to be director James Cameron’s best work. While ‘The Terminator’ was a bleak noir-style thriller and ‘T2: Judgement Day’ was something of a coming-of-age that taught the meaning of human life; both under the guise of “awesome sci-fi action”. Hollywood then decided to basically try to make the ‘Terminator’ franchise this money-making machine by adopting all the action of the first two movies for their new installments, instead of adopting the human elements that made the first two movies so memorable and clever.
To be fair though, it does seem like the studio has been trying harder to make a “true” ‘Terminator’ film with each new installment. With ‘Terminator: Salvation’, director McG at least tries to do something different. Whereas the other films in the franchise took place during modern-day and had time travel in the mix, 2009’s ‘Terminator: Salvation’ actually breaks tradition by actually taking place in the future; giving more details into the post-apocalyptic world after the events of Judgement Day and the war between the machines controlled by SkyNet and the human resistance lead by John Connor. Needless to say, THIS was the ‘Terminator’ film that everyone wanted to see. The end result however, was mixed at best. The way I see it, between the first two films and ‘Genisys’, I suppose you could consider ‘Salvation’ to be the “middle child” of the franchise.
Not to say that it’s bad. Yes, I would rather be watching ‘T2: Judgement Day’. But, ‘Salvation’ does have a lot of things going for it. For starters, it might’ve seemed like I was complaining about newer ‘Terminator’ movies focusing more on action scenes rather than a good script, the action scenes are actually really good and really are the best things about this movie. Especially, the chase scene in L.A. during the second act and the film’s climax at that SkyNet’s headquarters. While the script for this movie may not be the best, most of the acting was pretty good. That should make you happy right?
The film stars Christian Bale as John Connor, leader of the resistance and savior of the human race. Granted his low, gravelly, Batman-esque voice is a little distracting at times but he still does a good job in the role. The man certainly does great in his action roles and this is no exception. Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, a character that’s actua-
Sorry, River. I know…Anyways, let’s just say that the Marcus Wright character does play an important part in the film and definitely had a lot of potential. While the overall execution wasn’t horrible and did pay off, it could’ve certainly used a little more work. Incidentally, wanna know how not to have most child actors act? Don’t let them talk! All joking aside, I do have to give props to young Jadegrace playing Star; a mute 9-year old girl who somehow manages to sense when the machines are near. Normally when there’s a child character in other movies, they eventually say something by the end. But, that little girl has my respect for not being a cliche and acting through the whole movie without saying a single word. Also, whenever she does something to help out one of the main characters, it’s so friggin’ funny and cute.
Now, if there is one actor who I thought did a tremendous job in this movie, it would have to be Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese; the father of John Connor who would be sent back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor(originally played by Michael Biehn in the first movie).
Not only is Anton Yelchin a great up-and-coming young actor, but it was as if he was playing a younger Michael Biehn. Everything from his urgency, his mannerisms and his voice was damn-near nailed perfectly…so much so that he reminded me how much of a fan I am of the character, wishing that the film focused on him more and left John Connor as this shadowy legend that he inevitably aspires to be like when he finally joins the Resistance. Anton Yelchin, I salute you.
Bottom line, making a sequel just as good or better than two of the greatest movies of all time is next to impossible. At the same time, however, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make a movie better than ‘Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines’. Regardless, it’s anything but a bad movie. If it had a little more of the clever writing from ‘T2’ but kept this film’s acting and amazing action, this would’ve gotten a higher rating as well as two more movies to conclude this film’s story…WHICH OF COURSE is never going to happen now.
Not that I’m complaining, Daenerys…now please excuse while I go and take a cold shower. Gotta Dash!
…But, I’ll be back.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
