Christian Bale is a bold actor. He came from American Psycho and Reign of Fire to reinventing the Batman franchise and now dares to try and reinvent the Terminator franchise. He starred in a huge blockbuster last year and now another blockbuster this summer. And I’m not even counting him in Public Enemies with Johnny Depp. Terminator Salvation has its flaws. I want to get this out of the way first. It’s not perfect. It doesn’t really dig deep into any characters and Bale, who is a good actor, isn’t given much here. He is mainly a big name who tries to act like a bad ass. And he does a pretty good job of doing that. He does use the same voice here as he did as Batman in The Dark Knight at times, though. I’m warning you now.
However, this movie delivers on everything you would want from a summer blockbuster and what you would expect from a Terminator movie. It has action scenes that are thrilling and FX that are fantastic. And like Star Trek, the FX don’t overshadow the movie. It’s almost necessary if you are going to tell a story about man vs. machine.
Terminator Salvation takes place after Judgment Day and John Conner (Bale) is all grown up. Skynet has almost killed the human race, and the survivors have become the resistance. The leader is Conner, which we knew that already. Eventually, he meets Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), who is part human and part machine. Something that John Conner has never seen before. But he may be his only way into Skynet to take it down. They have a chance to win the battle, and possibly the war.
Now in the mix of all this, John Conner is trying to find his dad, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), who is just a teenager in this. There is a little time issue with concerns of saving the past in order to save their future. It will make more sense once you see the movie. It’s not as confusing as it sounds.
And I have to give credit to Worthington. I have not heard of him before this, but I have a feeling I will be hearing more about him now. He stood out more than anyone in this movie. He really shares screen time with Bale throughout the movie. And they both play big roles. His character has the most depth and you know more about him than any other character. So it is nice for him to get a chance to shine on such a big platform.
Terminator Salvation brings entertainment, and once it starts, it doesn’t stop. Summer blockbusters are supposed to be fun and exciting to watch. Of course, a good story and good acting can go a long way as well. Star Trek does a better job with the characters having depth and having a story that digs through the surface. But Terminator Salvation gives the audience what they want. Both movies deliver and it’s a tough call on which one is better.
But this movie will not disappoint. There a few characters from the past that play important, but small roles. McG, the director, brings the other films together to play a role in this one. But this one is the beginning of a new chapter. A different era for John Conner who we are used to seeing as a young kid scared of these machines. Times have changed.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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