Terminator Salvation

How an interesting subject can be turned into a pretty mediocre bore. I don't know why, but sometimes I had to grimace at their conversations, speeches. But what really annoyed me was that everybody's favorite shaky cam à la documentary style. Nothing against it, for example in Children of Men it was really useful, but here it's useless. Like I wanted a good look at what was going on, but was told: "Sorry, baby!". Sure, some things were good, but the lighter moments can't save a movie that's supposed to be Something. The only thing I was honestly pleased with was the "rubber" imitation of Arnie's face, I enjoyed that special appearance. (06/19/2009)

Arnold is back (for a while) Arnold is back (for a while), although in a quite different movie this time. Salvation has little to do with the original trilogy, well… other than being a sequel to it. But the real powerhouse turned out to be Cameron's dark horse Sam Worthington as Marcus. He’s the only one who moves the main storyline forward. The rest is just filler until what's about to happen happens. I also believe that Bale was only given the role of Connor because he comes across good and leader-like and can create a depressing atmosphere with his hoarse voice. By the way, I barely noticed Bryce Dallas Howard. McG shot an impressive action sci-fi (with robots from Sam Winston's mind), but it can’t touch the Terminator saga. Maybe because I realized this from the beginning, I kind of enjoyed this fourth part. (06/18/2009)

The fourth Terminator is somewhere between the visual purity of T3 and the grandeur and fatefulness of T2. You can almost feel through the TV screen the physical action scenes, which have bombastic sound and precise editing. Similarly, the dirty and uncertain future is portrayed with appropriate dark music and excellent lighting. McG also treats the viewer to several knockouts in the form of brilliantly shot scenes and various camera tricks. But the last act is not good, with a finale that is logically simple, overly terse and in the context of the preceding events, not sufficiently epic. The characters are fine and technically gripping. It’s a pleasant bridge to the next installment, which I can imagine. (06/05/2009)

The world of a dark future, which Cameron only hinted at, which gave a sense of something unknown and which I never wanted to see on screen, so that its menacing atmosphere would not disappear. Exactly this world is brought to us by McG with Skynet and the Resistance Movement, and to my great relief, he manages to dispel all concerns already with the exposition. There are plenty of reasons to be joyful after all. Whether it's both the dignified opponents at the center of the action, the crucial supporting characters, or the gallery of Terminator villains. But above all, the feeling that the saga was meant to come to these moments. For the direct continuation, thanks to the feeling that something great is being born, I enthusiastically supported it. However, the reality was different. (06/08/2009)

This film starts off as the coolest post-apocalyptic action orgasm since Mad Max 2. It takes only the names of the characters from James Cameron, while providing the well-cast Worthington/Yelchin duo with an interesting introduction. Terminator Salvation is engaging with its atmosphere, deadly new T600s and Transformer-like giants emitting sounds reminiscent of Spielberg’s Tripods. It is a great visual experience relishing its B-movie but extremely entertaining and spectacular take on the subgenre. BUT... in the second half, the creator of Charlie’s Angels seems to acquire the unfortunate impression that he can master Cameron’s reason-governed universe and starts to reference and alter it, and all of the enthusiasm for this film gradually evaporates. It seems like McG hasn’t even watched Cameron’s movies. At most, he has seen Scott’s Blade Runner, about which he was intrigued the most by fire lashing out of chimneys. P.S.: Worthington plays a more remarkable and important character than Christian Bale. (05/21/2009)