 Terminator Salvation
Tamsin Cracknell
Cyborgs! Explosions! Er... exploding cyborgs! It's everything you'd expect from a Terminator movie, but sadly, little else. Still, with $200 million-worth of special effects, you owe it to your HDTV to watch this movie.
It's 2018, and Skynet is winning the war between man and machines: it has begun farming killing drones from live human beings – an experiment which will eventually result in the iconic T-800 killbot (or “Governor of California” ,as he is lately known).
A brawny and all-grown-up John Connor (Bale) is climbing the ranks of the Resistance, until he receives a Skynet kill-list with his teenage father-to-be, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), occupying the top spot. Enter Marcus Wright (Worthington), whose last memory is of donating his body to science before his own execution for murder in 2003. Wright is, understandably, a little confused, but Kyle Reese is his only friend in this post-apocalyptic world, and Wright needs Connor's help to save him. But wait – what's that beeping noise coming from Wright's insides?
New director McG needn't harbour any “Avatar envy” after taking the reins from founder James Cameron – this film is a jaw-dropping jamboree of pyrotechnics, set design and special effects. In fact, Arnold Schwarzenegger's blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance is one such trick – the Governator's face was digitally moulded onto fellow Austrian beefcake Roland Kickinger's nude body.
But considering the decades of fanaticism inspired by the franchise, Salvation lacks the emotional spark that made Terminators 1 to 3 so timeless. Bale's Connor is a deadpan bore, there's no central villain to root against, and much good acting talent (Helena Bonham Carter, Bryce Dallas, Howard Common) goes to waste.
Nonetheless, it's a fun and impressive action/sci-fi/war movie that fills in a few more blanks about a story many of us grew up with. And as the first instalment in a planned trilogy, you can be sure that Terminator will be back.
Directed: McG (Charlie's Angels, The O.C.)
Starring: Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), Sam Worthington (Avatar), NOT Arnold Schwarzenegger
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