Terminator: Salvation

 Terminator: Salvation

There comes a point in any long running franchise where it needs to be elevated. Especially when it’s main star is no longer involved, you’ve got to pull out the big or up-and-coming names to draw in the crowds. And if the story is interesting enough, it can all work. The cast and plot for Terminator: Salvation probably sounded great on paper and they were hoping that minus Schwarzenegger the series could still pull in the fans and be as relevant as the earlier instalments, but in my opinion the final result was less than inspiring.

If Judgment Day was the sequel to the first Terminator film, and Rise of the Machines was just a rehash of the second film and not really a sequel, then surely Salvation is the sequel to Terminator 3. Given it jumps forward to the aftermath of how T3 ends, it certainly continues the journey of John Connor and Kate Brewster as they begin to build up the Human Resistance to fight Skynet. Whereas the first three films showed snippets of the world after the nuclear war, Salvation spends it’s entirety there. The creation of a post-apocalyptic 2018, remnant of cities left burnt to ashes from nuclear bombs is effective and sets the stage for some decent action sequences. 

Driving the film are it’s two leading men; Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. Bale was an interesting choice to play John Connor, and with the massive success of “The Dark Knight” the year before, having Batman and The Terminator franchises to his name couldn’t hurt his career. Then there was young Aussie actor Sam Worthington. Tipped to be the next Big Thing after being cast in Avatar (due for release later that year) he would play the films central character; part man, part machine, and showing us a new dimension to the Terminator Universe not previously explored. The setting, concept and characters were appealing, but that’s where the ingenuity stops unfortunately. 

Terminator: Salvation works better as a stand alone film. I guess that’s what happens when four entries for the one story are not pre-planned from the get go. Whereas T2 was the Terminator film James Cameron wanted to make in 1984 but couldn’t because of money and the technology not up to date with his ideas, T3 was made to cash in on the trilogy trend and give Arnie an iconic way to sign off his movie career by returning to the character that made his career in the first place. But the filmmakers plans to continue the franchise with this instalment, actually stopped it dead in it’s tracks. Even with Christian Bale’s fine performance and star power, I didn’t buy him as a grown up John Connor. Sam Worthington seemed aloof and lost in his character, so thankfully Avatar was the film that worked in his favour. 

The only salvation for, er, Terminator Salvation, was a nice little throwback to the films original star. He couldn’t reprise his role due to governing the state of California, but Arnold Schwarzenegger “showed up” towards the end. Based on the concept that every T-800 looked like Arnie, one of them is unleashed from the assembly line in the heart of Skynet’s operations. John Connor happens to be here, and becomes the target of the killer robot. Through the use of some okay CGI, the way Arnie looked in 1984, biceps and all, is recreated for the sake of having him in the film, even if he couldn’t be. Although a nice tribute, it wasn’t The Real Arnold and it just reminded audiences that his presence from the film was sorely missed. 

Never mind that though and moving on. The real salvation for the Terminator series is here as today, “Terminator Genisys” arrives in cinemas. Arnie’s Back! Older than ever, but playing a version of the Terminator who is sent back in time to when Sarah Connor is a little girl. He positions himself as her Guardian, and decides to hang around for her entire life. Given he’s a cybernetic organism surrounded by living tissue, his hair, and skin ages, which helps him look human and blend into society. A clever way to factor in that Schwarzenegger is now a senior citizen. The early buzz so far is positive and the tip is to go into Genisys forgetting about T3 and Salvation, which most people have anyway. Just remember the original classic and the smashing sequel, and be prepared to witness a paradox of time zones similar to “Back to the Future Part II”, and you should enjoy yourself. 

I’m planning to enjoy it, and will have my review up for it after the weekend. So check back to this blog soon, because… I’ll be back! 

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