Terminator Salvation (2009)

 

I am here to tell you this one is a lot better than it often gets credit for.

Yes, you heard me correctly. 

Does it have problems? Yes, as most films do. But after the less than stellar (and I'm being generous) 'Terminator 3', this was almost like a breath of fresh air. Almost.

The plotline concerning Marcus, the character we see in the beginning, already gives away what the big reveal is going to be. That was a silly move. But after that, this film takes place in the early days of the war between man and machines. Skynet has launched the nuclear strike and by doing so has wiped out most of humanity. What remains are isolated pockets of people, most of whom are trying just to survive whereas several with access to military equipment are fighting a fight that feels more hopeless every day. John Connor is not yet the leader as such, but through his radiocommunication, a lot of people look up to his words of wisdom and comfort. 

Into all of this walks Marcus again. He has no idea what happened, and he meets up with a young Kyle Reese and want to find out what is going on. They set out to find John Connor, but Kyle gets captured and transported to one of Skynet's death camps (which fits with what Michael Biehn told Linda Hamilton in the very first one). So now, Marcus and John Connor are trying to save Kyle, because if Kyle dies, then John Connor will never have existed. 

Yes, the idea behind it all still feels weird. Imagine having to discover your father as a teenager, and then knowing you have to make sure he already falls in love with a picture of your mom so he will want to get sent back in time to save your mom, sleep with her one night and conceive you, because otherwise the machines win by default. 

That's a lot of boxes to tick. 

What this film does right, is portraying the feeling of a war going on. After the bombs fell, everything is desolate and in ruins and it actually looks pretty cool. I mean that in a wartorn way, not in a 'Oh my gosh this seems like fun!'-way. The character of Marcus is okay, I guess. He's a little too cool for school at times, but most of the characters are a bit one note. Christian Bale as John Connor is passable, but not very memorable. The side characters are more appealing. I'm thinking of the always wonderful Michael Ironside as a gruff general (he seems tailormade for this kind of role) and Moon Bloodgood as the 'love interest' for Marcus. The late Anton Yelchin is probably the best part as a young Kyle Reese and you get shades of Michael Biehn's portrayal, so very well done. The action scenes are cool, and the chase with the giant robot and the motorized Terminators is better than it would seem at first read. 

Also: those machine camps feel a little too close to the nazi extermination camps. Which makes sense and therefore they work, beacuse the industrialized destruction of people does feel as though only heartless machines could pull it off. Alas, history has shown us that people can act as machines as well. 

I'm sure there is a parallel there. Really. 

But some things don't work as well. The film is very dull in colours. And while I get the dusty aesthetic, it is very grey and brown all the time. But fair enough, that is a stylistic choice. The main concern is the overabundance of lucky shots. Marcus meeting Kyle Reese ànd John Connor, so Connor knows where his dad will be? Marcus running into Blair who instantly trusts him and brings him to the base? Marcus turning out to be more than he bargained for and consequently saving Connor three times? It's just all a little too convenient at times. It will tax your suspension of disbelief at times. 

But despite these shortcomings, 'Terminator Salvation' is still a decent film, that gives the franchise at least a warfilm, something it has never done thus far. Beside that, it doesn't do anything really new, but it works and is a serious step above the third installment, or lord help us, the abomination that is 'Genisys'.