Terminator: Salvation (2009) Review

"I'm the only hope you have."
-Marcus Wright



Death row inmate, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) was executed in 2003, but somehow wakes up in a post-apocalyptic 2018 to find the human race at war with the machines.  His life is saved by Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), who is captured by the machines.  Now Marcus has to team up with John Conner (Christian Bale) to save save Kyle, but can John trust Marcus?


What Works:

I do want to give the filmmakers props for doing something different with this movie.  All of the sequels are pretty much the same story with different characters.  Salvation is certainly not the same as the others and I commend them for doing something different even if the execution was all that it could have been.

The acting is pretty solid all around.  Everyone does a good job, especially Yelchin.  The actors are not the problem with this movie.

Finally, there is one really cool action sequence.  It has Marcus, Kyle, and Star (Judagrace Berry) trying to escape the machines in a tow truck.  It's an exciting sequence and easily the best part of the film.


What Sucks:

The biggest problem with Terminator: Salvation is that it's bland.  It's not interesting at all and does nothing to hold my attention.  This is the second time I've watched it and I can barely pay attention.  It does nothing to capture your interest besides the one action sequence I mentioned above.

The writing doesn't make a whole lot of sense either.  Why don't the machines simply kill Kyle the second they capture him?  It makes no sense to hold him as a prisoner to lure John in.  They win the war if they kill Kyle.  It's baffling.

Marcus isn't a great protagonist as we never know what his goal is.  We don't know why he is doing what he is doing and we don't know how he feels about the situation.  This makes it hard to be invested in his storyline.  It's not Sam Worthington's fault, it's the director's.

The movie even look bland.  The whole thing is gray and not visually interesting.  If I can't be invested in the story, at least makes the visuals aesthetically pleasing.  

Finally, there are too many callbacks to the first two movies (the good ones).  I hate when sequels do this.  Quit reminding me of better movies and focus on making this one good.


Verdict:

Terminator: Salvation is very different from the rest of the series and has one solid action sequences, but the story makes no sense, the characters suck, and it's mostly just a bland mess.  Skip this one at all costs.


 3/10: Really Bad 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Argylle (2024) Review

Image
 "The human skull is shockingly brittle." -Aidan Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a very successful spy novelist.  She draws attention from the espionage community when plot points in her books come true.  When Elly is attacked on a train by a group of spies, she is rescued by another spy, Aidan (Sam Rockwell), who needs her help with his mission and to do that, she needs to write another chapter of her latest book. Spoilers Below.  Go ahead and read on because I don't recommend this movie, but either way, you've been warned. What Works: Argylle has a really fun premise that really works in the first half of the movie.  It's a fish-out-of-water, buddy-cop, spy movie, and it's a blast.  Watching Ellie predict where to go based on what the characters in her books would do is a lot of fun.  It's what the whole movie should have been. The opening sequence follows Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) on another dangerous mission as he pursues the villainous LaGrang
Read more

Top 10 Movies of 2023

Image
2023 is finally over and it's time for me to put my Top 10 list together.  2023 was definitely a weaker year for movies.  There were definitely some great movies, but there were also plenty of disappointing and bad movies as well.  I still managed to put together a great Top 10 with a couple of worthy contenders that just missed the cut.  Let's take a look! #10. They Cloned Tyrone They Cloned Tyrone is a wild and fun sci-fi tale that takes place in the hood.  A drug dealer, a pimp, and a prostitute discover a cloning conspiracy and the results are intelligent and hilarious.  This is a really smart and funny movie with some amazing performances across the board.  This was a movie that kept me guessing the whole way through.  What an absolute blast. #9. Renfield I'm guessing Renfield will be the most controversial entry on my list as I feel like I'm the only person who liked this movie.  I love the old Universal monster movies and the fact that we get a direct sequel, whi
Read more

Madame Web (2024) Review

Image
 "When you take on the responsibility, great power will come." -Santiago Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson), a New York paramedic, hits her head in an accident, which unlocks the ability to see glimpses of the future.  When she sees Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) attempting to murder three teenage girls, Cassie intervenes to save them.  As Cassie learns to understand her power, she also discovers the connection between her, the girls, and Ezekiel. What Works: I think the core idea at the center of this movie is a good one and has the potential to be interesting.  Cassie's superpowers are kinda lame.  It's not like they're going to help in a combat situation.  Ezekiel is basically evil Spider-Man.  He has legitimate powers and is a massive threat.  That's an interesting conflict.  How does someone with lackluster superpowers take on a supervillain.  It's a fun idea that I would like to see tried again with greater success.  What Sucks: This movie was embarrassing to
Read more