Terminator Salvation: Review Central

[FCEEVIPER]

Not a good start on RT, yikers.

 

[FaT_tONle]

I'm a pretty big Bale fan but I find it horse**** now about how he told McG that he would only do the film if the screenplay was good enough to read on an empty stage and keep the audiences attention.

From most of the reviews this sounds like a mindless action film.

I'm still excited to see it but I would have thought it would have been a bit deeper then just action.

I think the paycheck may have gotten the better of Bale...

 

[hitmanyr2k]

I'm a pretty big Bale fan but I find it horse**** now about how he told McG that he would only do the film if the screenplay was good enough to read on an empty stage and keep the audiences attention.

From most of the reviews this sounds like a mindless action film.

I'm still excited to see it but I would have thought it would have been a bit deeper then just action.

A mindless action film is what I expected all along. How could you not? Bale or no Bale, I certainly didn't have my hopes up that McG would suddenly evolve into an all-around director and have a successful mix of story, action and characterization. He is what he is...similar to Michael Bay. You pretty much already know what's coming when a name like McG or Bay is attached to a project.

 

[FaT_tONle]

You pretty much already know what's coming when a name like McG or Bay is attached to a project.

Lemme add Brett Ratner to that mix.

 

[Dark Knight]

Finally we see a different side of a bigger story of the world James Cameron created with the original classic Terminator. Fans of the concept and series of films will enjoy this new take thoroughly, since this is one of the many possible angles that has not yet been told onscreen. McG does an admirable job overall. He is not Cameron but he shows great respect to the world Cameron created in Salvation.

The actors all do really well IMO, especially the leads. Bale is once again solid as the adult leader of the resistance John Conner (don't believe the bitter non sense that Bale doesn't do a good job, those are the people that are looking to rip him after the much publicized rant of a crew member) who battle the rise and advancement of the machines. Good action, good FX and great intensity overall in this film. Sam Worthington does an excellent job as well, and he is well on his way to becoming a serious A list talent. I won't be annoying and spil anything about this film. Go see it and be ready to be stuck to your chair the whole time. You aren't even going to want to blink, because you'll be worried that you might miss the next scene!

This film may not be able to hold the original two films jocks, Terminator and the great sequel T2, but it easily surpasses the third film, Terminator Rise of the Machines as the third best film in the series. A nice FRESH visual Terminator story for the summer is what this film truly is.

8/10 for me

 

[Dark Knight]

I f**king hate Twitter for some reason.

Twitter is the new evil Hellspawn fad. It will die soon enough.....LOL

 

[Symbiotic]

Don't be so downbeat, a Terminator film is not going to be a critics darling.

T1 = 100%. T2= 97%. Hell, even T3's fresh with 70%.

 

[FCEEVIPER]

T1 = 100%. T2= 97%. Hell, even T3's fresh with 70%.

Wow T3 70%

Impressive, most impressive.

 

[Figs]

Finally we see a different side of a bigger story of the world James Cameron created with the original classic Terminator. Fans of the concept and series of films will enjoy this new take thoroughly, since this is one of the many possible angles that has not yet been told onscreen. McG does an admirable job overall. He is not Cameron but he shows great respect to the world Cameron created in Salvation.

The actors all do really well IMO, especially the leads. Bale is once again solid as the adult leader of the resistance John Conner (don't believe the bitter non sense that Bale doesn't do a good job, those are the people that are looking to rip him after the much publicized rant of a crew member) who battle the rise and advancement of the machines. Good action, good FX and great intensity overall in this film. Sam Worthington does an excellent job as well, and he is well on his way to becoming a serious A list talent. I won't be annoying and spil anything about this film. Go see it and be ready to be stuck to your chair the whole time. You aren't even going to want to blink, because you'll be worried that you might miss the next scene!

This film may not be able to hold the original two films jocks, Terminator and the great sequel T2, but it easily surpasses the third film, Terminator Rise of the Machines as the third best film in the series. A nice FRESH visual Terminator story for the summer is what this film truly is.

8/10 for me

I wouldn't be surprised at all if that has to do with some of the bashing towards him. People are just that ignorant and love having a holier than thou attitude to boost their confidence/ego. It was none of our business anyways but then you get these tools who act like they're perfect and think Bale was the anticrist for being human and losing his temper.

I'll judge his performance on his acting ability alone. Not to mention I hear that a lot of the actors didn't have much to work with anyways due to the script.

 

[TheVileOne]

Never trust a man named McG.

Well there goes one excuse saying critics don't like Terminator movies.

 

[Paradoxium]

The problem with this film is it tries to be about John Connor and is really a Marcus story. Hell, Bale was approached for the Marcus role. Marcus is the lead, Connor was a last minute tack on. If they wanted this to be a Connor film, they SHOULD NOT have included Marcus. I am not saying the Marcus character is not interesting, but from a narrative POV, you need to more cohesive and focused for a film. McG does not have the talent for this type of narrative and character juggling, and he should not even attempt it (yet). In other words, he should have made a film about Marcus OR Connor and expand on either characters. This is probably the biggest mistake.

Given his interviews and how Bale "explicates" the film as a satisfactory loud popcorn film, it's a nice way of saying, its a loud dumb film. It's not like there is anything wrong with loud dumb films (Star Trek); it's probably not entertaining. Warner Brothers mortgaged the R-Rating and long term potential for a bigger short term opening weekend. They opted for the security of PG-13 over R.

Warner should have not made Watchmen, because it was destined to commercially fail. No matter how faithful or unfaithful. The story is not conducive for film. Terminator is more conducive to film, and deserves the R unlike Watchmen. It's not like this is a matter of hindsight, a number of people have been saying this for years, hell even Moore pointed this out. Without Watchmen this film would have been R.

I never doubted McG has a visual flair, but I suspect his editing and pacing style will destroy this film. Whereas Abrams salvaged a bad script, McG will savage a good script, such as cutting lines out and making dialogue awkward (aka the preview clips). Especially when we are talking about 30-40 minutes of material.

In the end, it all boils back down to McG.

 

[Carnotaur3]

The problem with this film is it tries to be about John Connor and is really a Marcus story. Hell, Bale was approached for the Marcus role. Marcus is the lead, Connor was a last minute tack on. If they wanted this to be a Connor film, they SHOULD NOT have included Marcus. I am not saying the Marcus character is not interesting, but from a narrative POV, you need to more cohesive and focused for a film. McG does not have the talent for this type of narrative and character juggling, and he should not even attempt it (yet). In other words, he should have made a film about Marcus OR Connor and expand on either characters. This is probably the biggest mistake.

Given his interviews and how Bale "explicates" the film as a satisfactory loud popcorn film, it's a nice way of saying, its a loud dumb film. It's not like there is anything wrong with loud dumb films (Star Trek); it's probably not entertaining. Warner Brothers mortgaged the R-Rating and long term potential for a bigger short term opening weekend. They opted for the security of PG-13 over R.

Warner should have not made Watchmen, because it was destined to commercially fail. No matter how faithful or unfaithful. The story is not conducive for film. Terminator is more conducive to film, and deserves the R unlike Watchmen. It's not like this is a matter of hindsight, a number of people have been saying this for years, hell even Moore pointed this out. Without Watchmen this film would have been R.

I never doubted McG has a visual flair, but I suspect his editing and pacing style will destroy this film. Whereas Abrams salvaged a bad script, McG will savage a good script, such as cutting lines out and making dialogue awkward (aka the preview clips). Especially when we are talking about 30-40 minutes of material.

In the end, it all boils back down to McG.

Wouldn't this criticism be more apt if you had actually seen the film?

 

[Solidus]

Wow T3 70%

Impressive, most impressive.

See this is what confuses me. Most of these reviews, and user reviews say its better then T3, yet it kinda is getting more flak. Which shows me that critics won't always be the best decision, which is why I will still decide myself. But this does all seem disappointing, I guess just be prepared for a good action romp. Still disappointing, but I will make up my mind tomorrow night.

 

[FCEEVIPER]

Yeah I'll hold my criticisms untill I see the film myself on Wed night.

But from the first reviews, it's not looking good for Mr.McG.

 

[Paradoxium]

My critique has more to do with the business side. I think it is pretty safe to say, if it was R-Rated, there would be more creative freedom.

I am just extrapolating what I make of the few reviews that is worth a dime (Emanuel Levy)... and seeing if the film is worth my time and money. But by all means it is not a review, and I doubt you will get a review out of me.

 

[Nivek]

Wow T3 70%

Impressive, most impressive.

Actually, Telling. Very, very telling.

 

[FCEEVIPER]

Not sure if this review has been posted....

Movie review | ‘Terminator Salvation’ is lost without humanity | 2 stars





One more review:

Spoiler

Review: Save us from this dour, bum-out new Terminator
BY RENE RODRIGUEZ
[email protected]

TERMINATOR SALVATION (PG-13) two stars

Every summer movie season must have its share of clanging heavy metal, and fitting the bill this year is the awkwardly titled Terminator Salvation, which has enough exploding robots, aircraft and artillery to tide us over until Transformers 2 arrives. Neither bland enough to ignore nor noteworthy enough to remember, the movie occupies that crowded middle ground of serviceable sequels that send you home feeling, if not exactly burned, then certainly unsatisfied.

This is the most dour and humorless of the four Terminator pictures -- I don't think there's a single moment of comic relief in the whole two hours -- and the serious tone weighs down the film. Sure, those Terminator motorcycles are way cool, and the Godzilla-sized Terminator is even cooler. (The noises it makes are pure movie-geek heaven -- the neatest movie sound effect since the bombs that went ke-raaang! during the asteroid-belt sequence in Attack of the Clones.)

But director McG (aka Joseph McGinty Nichol), in a bid to be taken seriously as an action filmmaker after those two Charlie's Angels baubles, practically admonishes you for having any fun. The tone of Terminator Salvation is bleak, bleak, bleak: The movie is a bum-out disguised as a popcorn muncher. When McG sneaks in the occasional visual homage to The Great Escape or a couple of crowd-pleasing odes to previous Terminators, they almost feel like accidents. Wipe that smile off your face! This is a war movie, dammit!

The intensity is just superficial, though: In terms of story, Terminator Salvation is also the most timid in the series. There's no invention in it, no sense of discovery. Only the impressively orchestrated action sequences feel fresh. Screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris, who previously collaborated on the vastly superior Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, finally get the chance to depict the war between man and machine that has been the lynchpin of the franchise. But that war turns out to be cookie-cutter, Post-Apocalyptic Warfare 101 stuff (think The Matrix sequels).

An hour into Terminator Salvation there's a neat twist you won't see coming that briefly enlivens the scenario, but the script takes it in the least interesting of all possible directions, and the story flatlines. The plot thickens, then it curdles. Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut's sepia palette, which renders everything in the hues of desert sand and gray skies, is initially striking. But after a while, the color scheme grows visually dull. You start craving more color than Terminator Salvation is equipped to provide.

The same goes for the performances. As the long-beleaguered John Connor (previously played by Edward Furlong and Nick Stahl), Christian Bale exudes gruff intensity and stoicism and creates a black hole of charisma on the screen. Rarely has a big-budget spectacle been graced with a hero this blank.

But Bale isn't really the film's star, anyway. Terminator Salvation belongs to Australian actor Sam Worthington, who gets more screen time -- and more stuff to do -- as Marcus Wright, a Death Row inmate from our era who awakens in 2018 and must protect the teenaged Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), who will grow up to be Michael Biehn and travel back in time to sire John Connor, who will eventually save mankind from the machines.

Got that? No worries: You'll have plenty of opportunities during Terminator Salvation to tune out, contemplate the vagaries of time travel and wonder if you should have stayed home and done the laundry. The answer is a qualified ''No.'' Those motorbikes really are cool.

Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Jadagrace, Helena Bonham Carter.

Director: McG.

Screenwriters: John Brancato, Michael Ferris.

Producers: Moritz Borman, Jeffrey Silver, Victor Kubicek.

A Warner Bros. release. Running time: 115 minutes. Vulgar language, violence, gore.

 

[Carnotaur3]

My critique has more to do with the business side. I think it is pretty safe to say, if it was R-Rated, there would be more creative freedom.

I am just extrapolating what I make of the few reviews that is worth a dime (Emanuel Levy)... and seeing if the film is worth my time and money. But by all means it is not a review, and I doubt you will get a review out of me.

When you say "the problem of the film" it's spoken with certainty about something you don't even know if it plays out well or not. This wasn't written like speculation, but made it seem like you had seen the film.

 

[Carnotaur3]

Not sure if this review has been posted....

Movie review | ‘Terminator Salvation’ is lost without humanity | 2 stars

It's been posted a bunch.

 

[Paradoxium]

You know I think the small press will be more generous with this film than the mainstream. Batman Begins whilst a 80+ on Rotten, did pretty poorly with the mainstream. The usual "critique" being "Batman was not fun" and "should not be that dark".

 

[Paradoxium]

When you say "the problem of the film" it's spoken with certainty about something you don't even know if it plays out well or not. This wasn't written like speculation, but made it seem like you had seen the film.

Than that is my fault in how I put it. I should have said "creative direction". Kind of like what I said about SR in the past, the "creative direction" of going Donneresque.

 

[Nivek]

What the hell? "T2 was the story of a boy and his Pet Killer Robot"?

Who the hell are these critics, and where we're they when T3 was released?

Oh wait, they apparently like ****, so they loved THAt flick.

 

[TheVileOne]

Psy Duck/Paradoxium makes some good points.

Also Terminator 2 was a story of his boy and his pet robot.

 

[Dark Knight]

Yeah, if people think and expect a Terminator film to be a Oscar contending film.....then they need to lower their expectations just a tad huh?

 

[Nivek]

i just want opinions from critics who don't take a crap on the subject matter to write a "meh" review about something.