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22
May|09
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Is it really salvation for the series? Critics all over seem divided. Some hate it and think it’s the biggest piece of garbage since “Battlefield Earth”, some believe it to be a worthy first start to a trilogy of films, others believe it to be a kickstart in the right direction after a horrific third entry in the beloved “Terminator” franchise. After reflecting on it for the night, I’m torn.
Last night I had a conversation with someone that hated the film and listened to why he hated it. He cited that it changed things. Robots were in the film that we had never seen in previous films before and to an extent they seemed even better than robots in the previous entries. He hated some of the actors. He hated the direction of the film (which I’ll get to). I guess this was fair. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. He also felt that it ruined the space time continuum element of the series. I didn’t understand the last argument because everything could still happen as had been foretold, but I think I finally got it after he left AIM. And my counter argument to it is that when 1997 passed without judgment day, time was changed. They are in an alternate sort of reality.
Personally, when I walked out of the theater I felt like I already knew quite a bit of the story walking in. A lot of it is given away in the trailers. First, everyone knows that Marcus is a machine with human tissue and a heart. Second, everyone knows that Kyle Reese is in the film. This is uncool…they need to stop making trailers that are ridiculously long. One thing I didn’t know though is that the trailer was an extremely elaborate trick! They made it seem like the film was about John Connor like Terminator 2 and 3. This was an incorrect assumption on my part. It is really an ensemble film that focuses primarily on Marcus and how he came to be. This kind of irritated me but I think that the next two films will be focusing on John Connor and Kyle Reese more which is a good thing.
The film (in my opinion) had some very cool robot concepts…Stan Winston helped bring the machines back to life one more time before he died. You’ll either be a purist citing that the robots weren’t seen in the wars when the wars were seen…or you’ll welcome them. I didn’t think it was cool that they tossed in all kinds of “Terminatorisms” such as “I’ll be back” or “Come with me if you want to live”. That was unnecessary. There are a few explanatory things that fans of the other fans will look at and be like “Oh…cool. So that’s how that happened” So if you like attention to little details, keep your eyes open.
I am so glad that John Connor doesn’t have a sit down chat with Kyle Reese about how he’s his son. That is what would truly ruin the space time continuum. You just can’t tell someone that. I still don’t understand my friend’s argument about why Kyle can’t be younger than him. I think it’s perfectly okay for a younger guy to go back in time and impregnate someone…thereby creating society’s only hope for salvation. The movies never said he was older than John Connor. In fact…during the span of the two films (unless he is sent back in the next) Kyle will age. Anton Yelchin is a 20 year old actor that did a great job of portraying Reese. He even talked through his teeth like Michael Biehn (attention to detail).
The other actors were okay. Sam Worthington couldn’t keep from slipping into his Australian accent a few times…mostly when he was yelling. It seemed as if Christian Bale just screamed every single line he had. Bryce Dallas Howard wasn’t given that much…and she was extremely pregnant. It was very very noticable. As far as we know from previous Terminator entries, John Connor didn’t have kids. They didn’t even make note of her HUGE belly. Hopefully they at least say something in the sequel about it. Moon Bloodgood was alright…she’s not a very good actress, and I wondered what was up with her makeup. She was headed into war and had a gallon of makeup on. Helena Bonham Carter played the face of Skynet. Skynet never had a face before, but you really have to see it to understand what I’m talking about. I’m not going to spoil that.
At the end of the movie, the person I walked out of it with loved it. We had a talk about robots and time travel and how cool all of that stuff is and the original “Terminator” films which were indeed better. The difference between James Cameron and McG is that James Cameron is a Science Fiction director that knows how to branch out. McG is a director that just made a good action movie with robots…but it didn’t feel like a “Terminator” film. The only ways that it did were the designs of some of the robots and the names of the characters/prototypes.
I’m glad I waited for a day to review this to collect all of my thoughts. It’s worth a watch unlike the HORRIFIC “Wolverine”. I will buy this on Bluray because as I said, I think it’s good. I think there is promise for the future of the franchise…I don’t know if it’s with McG because I’d rather have a director that knows how to do a science fiction film in the seat. I give it 2 1/2 stars.
Last edited: Jun 25, 2009 @ 11:23 PM, 258 days ago |
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Comment
Thanks for clarifying the first item.
He isn’t a child though. As an actor, he’s twenty. He’s younger than Kyle yes. He’s supposed to be a teenager in the film sure, but a teenager is anyone up to the age of twenty. The actors in Jurassic Park were supposed to be about twelve. This was not Reese’s age in the film.
There were no boos or looks of disappointment that I noticed in our theater. There were a lot of people talking on the way out. I think a lot of people are just wondering where it’s headed.
I believe Reese was supposed to be 14 in the film. A child!
Oh okay…because he says he’s seventeen to Marcus.
Haha, nice comeback. But 17 is still a child. If I wanted a child hero, I’d watch Home Alone.
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I didn’t say it didn’t make sense that Kyle was younger than Connor, I just thought it was stupid. If the machines would have just killed Reese when they first grabbed him (instead of enslaving humans for who knows why) they would have in return destroyed John Connor.
I am a big hater of children heroes. I haven’t wanted to see a kid kick ass on screen since I was a kid, and it’s something I don’t think adults want to see. It adds a tackiness to the film. Jurassic Park 2 and 3 are good examples of lame children heroes.
The movie was terrible. It had tons of explosions, but went nowhere. Christian Bale’s voice annoyed me (I’m starting to think that Bale is keeping his Batman voice) and I just wasn’t feeling it.
I went with a Terminator fanatic, and 20 minutes into the movie we both looked at each other and said “CRAP”. He felt sorry for asking me to go.
The audience at the theater got up and everyone had disappointed looks on their faces with a round of boos, I don’t think anyone where I went liked it.
Left by Justin on Friday, May 22 @ 06:40 PM / Permlink