CinePhillyist Reviews... Terminator Salvation

In a brief prologue set in 2005, we learn that Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) is a convicted killer on death row. Feeling guilty about what he's done, he's ready to die. But just before he's executed, he's convinced by Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) to donate his body to science, and of course it turns out the science in this case will be done by Skynet. We jump ahead almost 15 years and meet the adult John Connor leading a squad of men as they infiltrate a secret base of the machines where data about some new robot is stored. Connor is the spiritual leader of the resistance, and everyone listens eagerly to his frequent radio broadcasts, which are sort of like fireside chats, where he gives pep talks to resistance fighters, as well as tips on how to destroy the machines. But Connor is not the actual leader of the resistance; an international council of Generals takes care of that. One of these is General Ashdown, and he's not a big fan of Connor and the crazy prophesies that say he will save humanity. In fact, Ashdown is kind of the angry, pig-headed police chief to Connor's scrappy, rogue detective, and the casting of Michael Ironside in the part is almost too on the nose.

Interestingly enough, the war isn't going the way Connor thought it would, given what he's heard about the future. The resistance isn't doing well, and the machines are building new technology Connor has never seen before. After the infiltration of the secret base ends in almost complete disaster, and what looks like a nuclear explosion, mushroom cloud and all, not only does Connor somehow survive (in an unlikely but technically impressive sequence that consists of one lengthy and breath-taking tracking shot), a reawakened Marcus Wright also stumbles out of the wreckage, confused and lost in time. He's now both more and less than human—but he doesn't know that.

After Connor pulls a ridiculous and unbelievable stunt to get to the mobile submarine HQ of the resistance (jumping into storm-tossed waters from a plane and swimming down to the sub in full military gear), he learns that the resistance has discovered a secret weapon against the machines that they hope will end the war for good. But meanwhile the machines are launching an offensive of their own against key resistance personnel, including John Connor and the young teen who John knows will grow up to go back in time and become his father: Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). So Connor must fight not only to save humanity in the present with the help of the resistance's new secret weapon, he must fight to keep Reese alive and thus help assure his own existence. The question is, will the mysterious and resourceful Wright help him or hinder him?

It's a neat story concept, and there are some exciting and clever moments. But despite the fact that the film is loaded with painfully corny metaphors about the importance of the human heart, the filmmakers seem to have forgotten the importance of it themselves. The other Terminator films worked because the characters were fleshed out, and we believed in them and cared about them. Plus, there was always a sense of humor included: the tongue-in-cheek feeling that this whole thing about killer robots was all rather insane and ridiculous. But this film is so dry and serious and earnest throughout that it's hard to even sit through it. And Wright, who is technically not even entirely human, is easily the most human character in the film. His story is fascinating; he's intriguing and mysterious; he has internal conflict and an actual character arc; and we can sympathize with him, because he is flawed and lost and just trying to do what's right. Also, Worthington's performance is subtle and strong. It's true that Kyle Reese, his mute sidekick Star (Jadagrace), and the resistance fighter Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) are all vaguely likable as well, but we learn next to nothing about them, and thanks to their limited and dull dialog, they remain mostly bland and generic characters. Connor's wife Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard) is perhaps the worst of all in this regard; I only know she's Connor's wife and that her name is Kate thanks to the IMDB cast list. I don't remember her name ever being spoken aloud in the movie, we never learn anything about her, and she never gets the chance to exhibit even the ghost of a personality. She might as well have been listed in the cast as "Connor's Concerned Doctor Girlfriend."

But Connor himself is probably the most important character failure. He's so intense, self-important, arrogant, and humorless that he's impossible to like or to get to know. The scene where he curses out a fellow resistance soldier for 10 minutes straight just for walking in front of him at the wrong moment is really too much. Okay, okay, I'm just making that up. But seriously: when Connor learns in the later part of the film that the resistance is about to try to destroy the machines' HQ, but that there are also human prisoners being held there, one of which is his own father, he actually goes against the orders of his superiors and, in a horribly melodramatic and completely unconvincing speech, orders everyone to halt the attack because if they bomb the machines, they'll be destroying their own future. What he really means is that they'll be destroying his own personal future! And it's never clear in this film why that should be a big deal. Why is John Connor so important? In the other films it was something we could take for granted, but now that we're actually meeting him, we need to know why and how he's the savior, and it's just not clear. Yes, people follow him and believe in him, but why? The movie never explains, and never succeeds in making us believe in him. He's not charismatic or even likable. He's actually kind of an annoying dick. [SPOILER ALERT]One of the worst scenes in this regard comes at the end of the film when he's dying and needs a heart transplant to survive. Wright offers his own heart, and Connor just nods at him. Yes, of course you should give me your heart. I'm more important. What?! At this point we know that Wright has superhuman strength, is nigh invulnerable, and has the ability to interface with the machines and their computers. He can acquire important information about the enemy, infiltrate their bases, and turn their defenses off. John Connor has none of these abilities. It seems to me Wright is the more important person to keep alive here, for the sake of the future of humanity. But everyone, including Connor, just takes for granted that it's Connor who needs to live. It's frustrating and ridiculous.[/SPOILER ALERT]

Also frustrating and ridiculous is the inconsistency with which the machines' abilities are treated. In some sequences, the film does an excellent job of showing how deadly and dangerous the Terminators are. The attack by the giant harvester robot and the smaller motorcycle robots is a particularly thrilling and frightening sequence, and the sounds the robots make are always disturbing and effective. But at other times, the robots seem easily dispatched by a few bullets to the right spot. And exactly how observant are these machines? In certain sequences, it seems that if you just shout too loudly above ground, they'll be on you like a shot. Which is, I assume, why Connor's resistance base is hidden underground and surrounded by a mine field. But later we learn that the resistance has a huge airplane hangar above ground, full of equipment and people and busy activity. Which brings up numerous questions. Like, how the hell have the machines not found this hangar yet and blown it up? And how the hell is the resistance this well equipped after the apocalypse? I mean, it looks like most people are struggling even to feed themselves, but somehow they have submarines, jets, missiles—where did they get all this? Isn't the whole story that Skynet took over military defense systems? Also, in a later sequence, a prisoner escapes from the secret underground resistance base, and all of the sudden the resistance is no longer interested in remaining hidden at all, and goes after the prisoner with everything they've got: lots of loud machine gun fire, a helicopter, huge explosions. How long can their secret base remain secret if they keep doing stuff like this?! And how did they not know that the lake right next to their hidden base was full of little water snake Terminators?

Terminator Salvation has a lot of impressive and thrilling action sequences. I love the CG cameo at the end from a familiar Terminator model, and the other connections back to the earlier films in the franchise (the familiar photo of Sarah; the tapes she made for John). But it's a movie about the importance of humanity that lacks humanity. Like the resistance, this film must stand or fall with John Connor, and sadly this Connor is a failure.

Image via Internet Movie Poster Awards Gallery