So after the events of the third film mankind is on the brink of extinction. Our only hope. John Conner (Christian Bale).After stumbling across a new weapon that could turn the tide of the war, the 'resistance' is preparing one big push (If you will :D). However, when he meets ex convict 'Marcus' (Played by Sam Worthington) everything is called into question.
The first three Terminator films pretty much stuck to the same exact formula and were mainly successful for there special effects (The third one, not so much) and leading man, so it's somewhat admirable that the writers & director McG(Yeah)at least tried to take the series in a different direction. The outcomes however is a lot less admirable.
To say that the film is a total mess would be like saying the citizens of Nagasaki came out a little sunburned on that fateful day in 1945 (It's late, that's the best I can do). After an incomprehensible first 15 minutes that saw Christian Bale grunt, shout (Or just grunt loudly), crash a helicopter and finally dive out of a plane so he could smuggle himself on board a submarine that served as headquarters to the human resistance (Yes this really happens), confusion and boredom were already setting in and it only got worse from there. Now admittedly the plot isn't really hard to follow, but McG's inept directing makes it just that.
But perhaps the most obvious problem here is the script. The biggest problem is that it does not develop or give us reason to care about any of the supporting characters (and frankly, none of the main ones either). But what's even worse is that key characters appear and then disappear from the film for extended periods of time. The biggest victim of this is Bryce Howard's Kate Conner who serves as John's significant other. Well, at least that's what Wikipedia tells me. Quite frankly, apart from the occasional embrace and what I'd learned from the third film, there was little to no explanation as to who she was or why she was there. Her only purpose seemed to be comforting John as he sat moping in dark rooms listening to tapes left to him by his mother Sarah (Voiced by an apparently sedated Linda Hamilton).
Then there's Christian Bale. It seems that after the on-set incident during production everyone is out to get him. As great an actor as Christian Bale is, his performance here is just awful. I'm not sure why Bale decided that John Conner should be stricken with a permanent case of tonsillitis, I'm sure he thought it would add to the characters intensity. In fact John Conner is so intense, he can only express himself by grimacing, grunting and screaming.
Christian Bale is intense
It's sad really because i'm sure he was just trying to make the most of the limited script, but by the end the character has just become farcical.
Also, I'm sure the screenwriters had a good chuckle when they were throwing in all those references to the earlier installments. I'm sure the film drew some polite laughs in the cinema when conner said 'i'll be back'. But really, does every update of a franchise have to rely on these cheap references to its predecessors. It goes to show that the new ideas in these films are so bland and forgetable, the screenwrites have to throw in these little nudges to the audience just to remind them why they are even watching the film in the first place, if in doubt just watch Episode I-III of Star Wars.
And one more thing, why is it all post apocalyptic tribes have to make the crazy senior citizen who talks in riddles their leader?
If there's one saving grace it's Sam Worthington who actually came close to giving the film some heart, it's too bad his character got bumped off instead of Marlboro man. Oh well.
So like I said, it's a mess. Personally I blame director McG, the man responsible for these films.
Yep, the man who brought us not one, but two Charlies Angels films was put in charge of rebooting the Terminator franchise. Perhaps a more competent director could have done a better job of balancing the scenes of drama with the relentless action sequences and actually make something decent out of it. I'm also sure any other director whould've known trying to pass off a bollock naked CGI Arnold Swarzenneger as a serious threat was probably not a good idea.
Quite frankly, do yourself a favour stick to the first two films and pretend the series ended there.
*1/2/*****
Look forward to seeing photoshops of me being bent over by cybernetic organisms in the near future.
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