Just like everyone else that’s ever enjoyed an action movie, I enjoyed the first two Terminator movies. Just like a lot of people I’d go as far as to say T2: Judgment Day is one of the best action movies of all time. Terminator Salvation has a lot of critics. I didn’t hate it. There were some things that annoyed me. But all and all I came out of the theater feeling I had watched a good action flick. This is not your typical Terminator film. We have no Arnold. And we really have no Terminator character. Marcus you could argue is your typical protector, he does save Kyle Reese a few times. If you read any further the first two rows may get SPOILERS:
I’d say Marcus is just a dude caught up in the middle of things. I think they tried to turn the formula inside out and have the protector be a fish out of water in the future–instead of an old pro from the future time traveling to the past. It doesn’t really work. Once Kyle Reese gets kidnapped and separated from Marcus that whole dynamic comes to a halt. While I’m not upset to go into unfamiliar with the franchise there will be many who don’t like that this movie doesn’t follow the formula. I read a few reviews that pointed out Skynet should of just killed Kyle Reese to end John Connor once captured. To my recollection until the very end they don’t know it’s Reese they’ve captured.
Some complaints: The resistance leaders are so 2d and boring, by the time they die we’re glad they’re dead, not because they were giving John Connor a hard time, it’s because they won’t be on camera anymore. While we’re glad they are dead, we wonder how a Hunter Killer blew up a submarine from above the water. Up to this point we had seen John Connor and Marcus kill an HK a piece while on foot/civilian vehicle. They are not exciting or scary at this point of the film, they are something that we saw blow up a lot. How did it manage to wipe out all the resistance leaders? The world may never know.
The heart. We hear about Marcus’ strong heart at a higher length to heart mentioning ratio than the Grinch’s. The spoon feeding finally assaults the gag reflex when he gives his heart to John Connor. This is no worse than other films of Summer’s Past, but it’s a new low for the terminator franchise. I read in the original screen play John Connor dies and they put his skin on Marcus. There hasn’t been a plot development that cool since Drew Barrymore jumped out of her LL Cool J African Prince Costume in Charlie’s Angels. (Also directed by MCG). There’s some cool action moments in the movie, but unfortunately nothing that really compares to the crazy chase seen with the mobile crane in T3. The plot holes are really no worse than something like Independance Day or Armageddon, but it’s not just action filled vomit like a Alien VS Predator, The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, or Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.
brontosaurus. it has stuck!
Soak it in Cliff, soak it in.
What? No truck nuts?
You’ll have to settle for Van Damme Balls today. That’s JCVDB.
Hey, the Terminator franchise is worse than the comic book world for retconning – and in the case of the Terminator movies it becomes expected. If you take the Star Trek movie retcon or any other similar situation, every time somebody jumps to the past and makes changes to events to prevent the future (or change it, even as a side dish to their insane vengeance – a la Star Trek) you create a new future that isn't necessarily going to match the one they came from (otherwise you have the other hackneyed option – the changes you make bring about your future). The Terminator movies took the changed future option and ran with it. Among other things, it lets them play with new ideas and tech they didn't even think of when the previous movie was released. Salvation was one such example where the scary as hell terminators aren't as powerful as they were in the first movie. Of course, in the first movie Arnie was a last ditch effort by a defeated Skynet. In Salvation, Skynet is definitely not out of the game…..