Terminator Salvation Review

After months of hype and anticipation, the latest film in the Terminator franchise was released this Memorial Day weekend.

I've been excited about this film since last summer. There was tons of positive buzz from Comic Con and the success of The Dark Knight proved that it was possible to successfully revive a dated series. I am also one of the few people who actually LIKED T3. I know, I know, but the action sequences were great and I like how they tied in the whole mythology of Judgment Day. Kristianna Loken's TX was blah but it helped launch her career doing terrible Sci-Fi/Fantasy films (see BloodRyane, In the Name of the King etc).

Before going in to Terminator Salvation I realized reviews were mixed but I was willing to give it a chance--WRONG. This was definitely a movie best suited to a bootleg viewing experience (albeit with surround sound). It was rife with bizarre plot holes, the action sequences weren't that great and Christian Bale continued to use that faux manacing rasp that is both distracting and extrodinarily silly. Common was TERRIBLE. The audience actually laughed out loud twice while he delivered his lines. I've seen him in films before and he's not that bad. I'm not sure what happened here. I imagine McG's direction going something like this: "No no Common, deliver your lines more like a robot. Yes that's it, be as awkward as possible." Additionally, Moon Bloodgood is showing strong sings of being a Kristianna Loken part deux.

I did enjoy Anton Yelchin, who I have loved since Charlie Bartlett, and while this film sucked, at least it will help develop Yelchin's CV for more mainstream projects. Also Sam Worthington, another hot Aussie import, is one to watch. He will star James Cameron's Avatar (yay) and resume the role immortalized by Harry Hamlin (chuckle) of Perseus in Clash of the Titans.