After the awesome birth of this franchise from James ‘The Master’ Cameron, and the tentative continuation from Jonathan Mostow, the story is left in the hands of a much documented novice, McG. It would be impossible to write a review of Terminator Salvation without pointing out McG’s questionable filmography, its highlight being Charlies Angels. All great directors have to start from somewhere, James Cameron’s own illustrious career started with the questionable Piranha 2 film in the early 80’s. So lets give him the benefit of the considerable doubt for now, the mighty Christian Bale certainly has, and that’s nothing to be sniffed at!

Salvation starts in 2003; Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter,Fight Club, Sweeney Todd) is recruiting for a medical research program in a generic American Prison. A particular prisoner in question,Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington, Avatar), is on death row for the killing of 2 men, A police officer and his own brother. Clearly showing remorse for his crimes, he is vulnerable and receptive to Dr. Kogan’s research and perhaps sees it as a route for redemption, a second chance. Terminator Salvation is a story about Marcus Wright what happens to him after 2003 and his salvation is unraveled throughout the film. In truth the film’s main ’star’ is Marcus Wright; if it wasn’t for the fact that we already know the characters of John Connor and Kyle Reese(Anton Yelchin, Star Trek) their roles in this film would have been billed as somewhat of a ’supporting’ nature.

At this point I feel the need to bring up the method of promotion for the film. Unfortunately for most, the motivation of Marcus’s character was ’spoilt’ in teaser trailers from the very off. I’m not a fan of any kind of spoiler, I am a big believer in watching the plot unfold in the order the writer(s) intended, however in this digital world of hype and over anticipation, directors have seen the need to self spoil some elements of their films simply to create furore (and inevitably more ticket sales). I digress, if you are reading this review now and you know nothing of the story at all, I am not going to join in and spoil it for you.

The story moves on to 2018, where the vast majority of the movie is set. As is to be expected from seeing the first 3 movies, we get to see a post apocalyptic world where only broken fragments of human society have survived the daily onslaught of the machines. In what I believe to be the greatest success of the movie, McG shows us a desolate, hopeless, but beautifully rich world. We are shown all manor of different machine models that keep this world in disorder, from Harvesters (of humans) to gunships and awesome motorbikes. What is really plain to see is an evolution of Skynet (the computer system that built the machines) and the terminators. What has only been hinted at before, in ‘flash forwards’, is now shown in brilliant CGI and crucially is completely believable. As the first part in a new trilogy this was probably the most crucial element of the project; to make a world we believed and appreciated.

Kyle Reese is but a teenager at this time and John Connor is a mid ranked resistance fighter. Connor is developing a cult following mainly due to his passion and seeming clairvoyance. Finally his mixed up life, being chased by robots from the future, actually comes in handy. 2018 is far from the John Connor of ‘legend’, what we are seeing is very much an origins story, viewing the start of a long and arduous fight that would shape & change him.

Salvation maintains quite a steady pace throughout, succeeding as a fairly gripping action romp. All of the main  devices are present, Robots, Check; Explosions, Check; Moral Dilemma, Check; overly dramatic chase sequences, Check. If I have a problem with the film its this; Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day were not ‘fairly gripping action romps’. They were terrifying, nut busting, awesome cinematic experiences. Everybody remembers the first time they saw T1 & T2; people will not remember T4 in quite the same high regard.

When we left the screening I was contemplating mixed feelings; Christian Bale had achieved another flawless performance, he commands the screen when the time is right but also happily blends in when necessary. Sam Worthington clearly has a presence on screen that we can liken to Russel Crowe and his Gladiator. It’s easy to see why McG was so keen to borrow him from Cameron’s latest masterpiece; think of T4 as Worthington’s teaser trailer, we are led to believe Avatar will be his Oscar winner.

Does McG shake off the stigma of ‘that name’ and Charlies Angels? Well, yeah sure! This was a good film; not great, but good! And in years to come, just like T3 (on second viewing), people might grow fond of it. But right now I cant help feeling a little underwhelmed by the whole experience. Is this the problem with rejuvenating classics? Can you ever get it right? Well JJ Abrams and Chris Nolan might have something to say on that score…

Verdict

Great action, OK story, OK characters, awesome world. A+ for effort but C+ for substance. A steady start for McG but we feel there is plenty more to come, we just hope Bale is along for the ride! See you in 2011.

3.5 out of 5
Moonwatcher

We’re shown how fragile the situation between the many Arab tribes are, and how the tribes are so stubborn to each other. Lawrence convinces the tribes to work together against their common enemy the Turkish. Doing much more than simply “appreciating the situation”, Lawrence collects a large army together and leads them to victory against a major Turkish stronghold.

We are shown that Lawrence’s character is determined, and enthusiastic, and has a refusal that nothing is impossible. We are shown this clearly when he leads an army of 50 men across a dessert that they had always deemed impossible to cross. He treats everyone equal and refuses to leave a man behind, which enforces his opinion in the eyes of the Arabs he leads. They accept the English man, and dress him in some of their cultural clothes.

After a string of victories against the Turkish army, Lawrence’s charismatic personality starts to crumble. His last battles are bloody and the pressure of leadership it etched on his manic face.

Peter O’Toole plays the many facets of this complicated character brilliantly. The acting throughout the entire film is good, and characters are strong, but there are too many throughout the course of the film.

Cinematography in this film is astounding, and there are many long shots of the vast dessert. The long shots of large armies are impressive (especially for the time it was created), many with hundreds of charging camels and Arabian soldiers. The coordination and planning behind these scenes is impressive, as without today’s CGI it must have been hard to produce. This makes the film endearing and realistic, as you can’t help appreciate the hard work gone into filming.

The music in this film is brilliant, and is a well-known film score. It fits the film perfectly, and was used well in the wide shots of camels charging through the dramatic dessert scenes.

The main issue our film club had with watching this film was the sheer length. The film is an epic three and a half hours long, and it feels it. Almost all of our panel thought this film could have been cut shorter without loosing any important storyline. You have to appreciate that the story we’re seeing is a significant portion of a man’s life, so to sum up into only three and a half hours seems harsh, but still the length was too much for our film club. We have decided that it is unrealistic to expect people to sit and watch a film of this length in one sitting. Hollywood must have realised this which is why it has become unpopular, and all modern films with a longer story to tell have been split across two or three films instead.

Verdict

The film is interesting from a historical point of view, and all characters are acted perfectly. The cinematography, and dramatic battle scenes are impressive. The film is very long though, which is a big drawback as it makes it a chore to watch.

3.5 Out of 5
Reviewed by Onion

This film has many car-centric scenes, with car chases, driving stunts and scenes of expensive cars being destroyed by being thrown down an Italian cliff face. You have to appreciate that the driving stunts were probably cutting-edge at the time, but by today’s standards appear extremely dated. We are used to seeing very fast-paced action scenes, and very dramatic stunts shot from many different camera angles, and with fast cuts. This film has none of those, and so comparing it to modern day driving films makes it look very plain, and lacks excitement. In the driving scenes defence is the knowledge that the stunts are much more honest, and haven’t been over-dramatised with special effects or CGI.

There is some great music in this film that firmly concretes the film in the era in which it was made. But the music is under-used. There are many scenes, especially the driving scenes which were often shown without a music track. Even at the film’s most exciting driving scenes when the mini coopers are making their getaway through Turin, music only starts when the cars have escaped all danger.

There are a lack of obstacles getting in the way of Croker’s plan. Croker and his gang are criminals performing a robbery, and therefore we can assume they are fearful of being caught by the police,  but this is barely shown. The Italian Police only appear in a few scenes, after the crime has taken place and the police give chase. But they are definitely not a worthy adversary, and are easily outwitted. The only real threat to Croker and his gang is the Italian Mafia, who are shown twice in the film that they have the inclination to destroy nice looking cars, serving as a warning to Croker. After this though, they are almost forgotten about and do not prove any danger to Croker’s plan.

There are some classic lines in the film, including the famous line “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off.” which is delivered brilliantly by Caine. There are a few more examples of great wit, but these dry up very early on, and there are huge portions of the film where there is no dialogue at all, replaced fully by long scenes of driving.

There are a few brilliant characters in this film. Caine plays his character brilliantly, but doesn’t get enough screen time for us to fully get the know the character. His motivation is easy to understand however. He wants money, simple as that.

A character that split our group however was the British Mafia boss Mr Bridger. A pompous Royalist inmate who seems to run the prison in which he is held. The character is strong, but doesn’t have any depth or development, and hogs much more screen time than he needs.

The other characters are stereotypes. The Mini Cooper getaway drivers all have one character, which is “posh”. The computer programmer played by Benny Hill is a man who loves to chase the larger ladies, the casting here is perfect because Benny Hill just plays himself. The humour here is extremely dated and just makes his few scenes something from a Carry On film. The bus driver is named “Big William” and we are told this is for “Obvious reasons”. This is because “Big William” is black, and seems to have been turned into a racial stereotype.

This film’s legacy is one of British patriotism. It uses the Red, White and Blue of the Union Jack consistently throughout, most prominently as the colours of the three getaway Minis. Again, using the Mini Cooper is another symbol of Britishness. The driving scenes make this film very popular with car fans, and undoubtedly the film will always be held high in certain people’s opinion because of this.

Verdict

Fun film that is reasonably engaging, but doesn’t demand your full attention. This film is best if you appreciate the time it was made in. But unfortunately time has moved on, and a film which so heavily relies on the driving stunts these days just needs to be better to create the same entertainment value.

Reviewed by Onion

With the aid his Best friend Kaylo (Efren Ramirez, Napoleon Dynamite), Girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart, The Butterfly Effect ) & personal Physician Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam, Panic Room) Chev frantically tries to stay alive (and perhaps even find a cure) long enough to take his revenge.

With the use of every adrenaline pumping scenario you can think of, full tilt car chases, gang land fisticuffs, Epinephrine syringes, nasal spray & Sex in the middle of a street, Crank succeeds in keeping our adrenaline pumping let alone Chev’s.

This is great stuff right from the off; highly unbelievable scenarios but it doesn’t detract too much from the enjoyment and almost enhances the experience. The camera work is nifty, especially the scenes shown through security cameras (nods cap to Fight club) and is integral to maintaining the films break neck pace.

Inevitably in a film like this you might be excused for thinking the central character is nothing more than a knuckle head, but surprising the scenes with his Eve add a caring dimension to the Chev Chelios’ character that helps the audience care just that little bit more about the outcome. This is often crucial with action films, if you don’t care about the hero then high action scenes have no meaning – we don’t care if he lives or dies.

Even when you do get to the end sequences of the film there is still a little surprise in store, a wonderfully crafted final scene to die for! Again elements of Fight club ring through with the well chosen music and sound giving us a great feeling the story arc has reached a point completeness and harmony, delightful!

Verdict
Fast, fun and far deeper than it could have been. Cracking film to watch over a box of popcorn however not for the easily offended!

3.5 out of 5

Reviewed By Moonwatcher