What Went Wrong With Terminator Salvation
My last post was about my excitement with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and how I loved that show and how I couldn't wait to see Terminator Salvation. Sadly, I learned the show, which has now been cancelled, has a much better storyline. Please note that there will be SPOILERS in the review so you probably don't want to read past the second paragraph if you haven't watched it yet.
Terminator Salvation has had a lot of good reviews, and a lot of bad reviews. This will be a bad one. I suppose the issue is, depending on what you are expecting from Terminator, you will really enjoy the movie, or really hate it. For an action movie with a lot of visuals, it was an amazing experience. It did in fact look like what you can imagine the world would be like. That's about as good as the movie got though. I really get into the whole mythology of the Terminator world. I realize the story is complete fantasy, but even in fantasy, there can be a lot of principals and rules that need to be followed. Just ask any Trekkie. I am also really into time travel which is probably what draws me to Terminator. On that note, I just watched an AMAZING time travel movie, Timecrimes. I really suggest watching that. It is a rare story that actually presents time travel with a closed causality loop, something most movies seem to avoid as it's hard to get right. Anyhow, that is another story.
A lot of the problems I had with the movie had to do with the reality of what should have been possible if Skynet really did exist and really was trying to eliminate mankind. I'm sure this is complicated to get right as the movie in a way is both a prequel and a sequel. What I mean by this is it takes place about 15 years after Terminator 3, at the same time, it's about 10 years before the Terminators go back in time. So, Skynet isn't quite as developed as it was when it created time travel, but it's had a fair amount of time to work on it's human elimination plan. I'm sure that could possibly explain some of the failings.
The movie starts out alright. The initial scene where Connor and the other resistance fighters sneak into some Skynet base is actually pretty cool. The helicopter scene was pretty exciting. Though, it did have some Mission Impossible feel to it as they were dropping down into the base. After that whole helicopter incident though, I guess we see why John Connor becomes the savior of mankind. He is apparently a super-human. He is taken back on a helicopter and jumps from the helicopter into the ocean and swims into a submarine. Without SCUBA gear might I add. At that point, I was already in a WTF mind-frame.
After this, we see the first of Marcus Wright. Of course, the trailer had to ruin the fact that he is part-machine, which would have been interesting to have found out part way through the movie. The first scene is just him in some mud screaming. The same scene in the trailer. At that's it. There is no explanation further than that. It seemed to be one of a number of scenes that solely existed to make the trailer more interesting. He then makes his way into LA where he is saved by Kyle Reese. The initial exchange, which is also fully shown in the trailer, is very basic and too quick. Pretty much "What year is it? What happened here?" Of course, Judgement Day at this point happened nearly 15 years before, so if some random stranger was asking me "What happened?", I don't think I'd just assume he was asking about Judgement Day. I'd also start asking a number of questions as to "Why don't you know what year it is?" and "How are you unaware of Skynet?". Instead, Kyle just happily lets him hang out and explain everything no questions asked. Cause it's pretty common for people to just show up and not know what's happened for the last 15 years. Then, for whatever reason, Marcus decides to randomly fix a radio, just a the right time to hear a speech from Connor that explains how to kill the T-600's. And to also hear Connor's name, which conveniently sets up the later scene where they meet him. The whole radio thing just seems a bit too set up.
The next part that is troubling is the fact that Kyle Reese is even named as the number one target by Skynet. Maybe I've been watching the TV series too much, but it seems that John would have to keep the whole thing about Kyle being his father a complete secret. So, why would Skynet be interested in him? Makes no sense. Basically, if Skynet knew future events and that John was going to help humanity take down Skynet and that Kyle was going to go back in time and be his father, wouldn't it be easier to just not build the time machine? I guess this opens up a lot of the problems of the time travel story anyhow, but it just doesn't seem like Skynet should have known about him.
Though, now that I think about it, the next part of the movie that was really annoying was the scene where Marcus was captured. John goes into his rant about "you killed my father, you tried to kill my mom, you tried to kill me". And he does give names out. Which doesn't make sense. Seems like he knows that Skynet found out about his mom and went back in time to kill her, so keeping her name quite may be a good idea. And also to keep Kyle's name quite as he is still around. Why would you tell a machine your father's name. However, that doesn't matter because Marcus very calmly explains that Kyle was just captured by Skynet. He doesn't question the fact that Kyle is only a young man, way too young to be John's father. And on top of that, John takes the news without question. I mean, this information was just given to you by someone you consider to be the enemy, yet he takes it as fact right off the bat.
Let's see, after that, or actually, maybe before that, we learn that Skynet has fully taken control of the area around San Francisco. However, the fact they were sending machines into LA was unusual and it was mentioned that they don't normally travel that far. It doesn't seem like Skynet has really taken over all that much actually. Plus, people have a full military with jets and submarines. It makes the destruction of the world not seem quite so bad. I suppose this made me feel like Skynet wasn't quite so scary. They must have made some good progress between 2018 and 2029 as at that point, they have fully taken over LA and people are hiding underground. Another odd thing to note, how come more people aren't in LA? They even said Skynet doesn't normally go there. Seems like a good place to hide out.
Back to the Marcus capture scene, another thing that seemed really random was the one pilot chick he saved setting him free. I'm sure she felt some connection to him after he saved her life. However, she then just found out that he is a machine. The same things they have been fighting from for years. I can see her arguing to have him be studied and to learn more about him as he was different. But, to just set him free? She risked her life for a machine. Doesn't seem like a normal reaction even considering that he saved her.
Moving on further into the movie, the whole thing inside of the Skynet complex was just nuts. The main thing being that Kyle was the number one target on a Skynet termination list. So, they capture him and put him in a prison. Now, they try to explain this away by saying he is bait to capture John Connor, but if they actually killed him, Connor would have still come. I don't see why they didn't kill Kyle. Even so, somehow, John Connor is inside of the Skynet complex, and Skynet is STILL unable to kill him. They have one actual Terminator in this entire central base? What type of operation is Skynet running. The first base they went to had no machines, and their main base had one?
The scene where Skynet explains their whole plan to Marcus was just too stupid to mention. It was basically the same thing that happens at the end of every episode of Scooby Doo after they take the mask off the criminal. I guess at that point in the movie, I was unshocked at how stupid it could get.
Finally, the movie ends with a heart transplant being done at some medical base that is just throw together in the middle of nowhere. I'd like to think that by 2018 heart transplants can just be done at anytime and anywhere, I'm sure it's a lot more complicated than that. Plus, didn't Marcus just die and have to be resuscitated moments before? I'm not sure if he was really a good candidate for a heart transplant.
I suppose that will conclude my rant for now. There is probably a lot more I could say. It's been a week now since I saw the movie, so it's not fresh in my mind, and I only saw it the one time. I'm sure I'll see it again once it's on DVD. This movie may actually be a rental though, and might be the first Terminator I won't actually own.
Terminator Salvation has had a lot of good reviews, and a lot of bad reviews. This will be a bad one. I suppose the issue is, depending on what you are expecting from Terminator, you will really enjoy the movie, or really hate it. For an action movie with a lot of visuals, it was an amazing experience. It did in fact look like what you can imagine the world would be like. That's about as good as the movie got though. I really get into the whole mythology of the Terminator world. I realize the story is complete fantasy, but even in fantasy, there can be a lot of principals and rules that need to be followed. Just ask any Trekkie. I am also really into time travel which is probably what draws me to Terminator. On that note, I just watched an AMAZING time travel movie, Timecrimes. I really suggest watching that. It is a rare story that actually presents time travel with a closed causality loop, something most movies seem to avoid as it's hard to get right. Anyhow, that is another story.
A lot of the problems I had with the movie had to do with the reality of what should have been possible if Skynet really did exist and really was trying to eliminate mankind. I'm sure this is complicated to get right as the movie in a way is both a prequel and a sequel. What I mean by this is it takes place about 15 years after Terminator 3, at the same time, it's about 10 years before the Terminators go back in time. So, Skynet isn't quite as developed as it was when it created time travel, but it's had a fair amount of time to work on it's human elimination plan. I'm sure that could possibly explain some of the failings.
The movie starts out alright. The initial scene where Connor and the other resistance fighters sneak into some Skynet base is actually pretty cool. The helicopter scene was pretty exciting. Though, it did have some Mission Impossible feel to it as they were dropping down into the base. After that whole helicopter incident though, I guess we see why John Connor becomes the savior of mankind. He is apparently a super-human. He is taken back on a helicopter and jumps from the helicopter into the ocean and swims into a submarine. Without SCUBA gear might I add. At that point, I was already in a WTF mind-frame.
After this, we see the first of Marcus Wright. Of course, the trailer had to ruin the fact that he is part-machine, which would have been interesting to have found out part way through the movie. The first scene is just him in some mud screaming. The same scene in the trailer. At that's it. There is no explanation further than that. It seemed to be one of a number of scenes that solely existed to make the trailer more interesting. He then makes his way into LA where he is saved by Kyle Reese. The initial exchange, which is also fully shown in the trailer, is very basic and too quick. Pretty much "What year is it? What happened here?" Of course, Judgement Day at this point happened nearly 15 years before, so if some random stranger was asking me "What happened?", I don't think I'd just assume he was asking about Judgement Day. I'd also start asking a number of questions as to "Why don't you know what year it is?" and "How are you unaware of Skynet?". Instead, Kyle just happily lets him hang out and explain everything no questions asked. Cause it's pretty common for people to just show up and not know what's happened for the last 15 years. Then, for whatever reason, Marcus decides to randomly fix a radio, just a the right time to hear a speech from Connor that explains how to kill the T-600's. And to also hear Connor's name, which conveniently sets up the later scene where they meet him. The whole radio thing just seems a bit too set up.
The next part that is troubling is the fact that Kyle Reese is even named as the number one target by Skynet. Maybe I've been watching the TV series too much, but it seems that John would have to keep the whole thing about Kyle being his father a complete secret. So, why would Skynet be interested in him? Makes no sense. Basically, if Skynet knew future events and that John was going to help humanity take down Skynet and that Kyle was going to go back in time and be his father, wouldn't it be easier to just not build the time machine? I guess this opens up a lot of the problems of the time travel story anyhow, but it just doesn't seem like Skynet should have known about him.
Though, now that I think about it, the next part of the movie that was really annoying was the scene where Marcus was captured. John goes into his rant about "you killed my father, you tried to kill my mom, you tried to kill me". And he does give names out. Which doesn't make sense. Seems like he knows that Skynet found out about his mom and went back in time to kill her, so keeping her name quite may be a good idea. And also to keep Kyle's name quite as he is still around. Why would you tell a machine your father's name. However, that doesn't matter because Marcus very calmly explains that Kyle was just captured by Skynet. He doesn't question the fact that Kyle is only a young man, way too young to be John's father. And on top of that, John takes the news without question. I mean, this information was just given to you by someone you consider to be the enemy, yet he takes it as fact right off the bat.
Let's see, after that, or actually, maybe before that, we learn that Skynet has fully taken control of the area around San Francisco. However, the fact they were sending machines into LA was unusual and it was mentioned that they don't normally travel that far. It doesn't seem like Skynet has really taken over all that much actually. Plus, people have a full military with jets and submarines. It makes the destruction of the world not seem quite so bad. I suppose this made me feel like Skynet wasn't quite so scary. They must have made some good progress between 2018 and 2029 as at that point, they have fully taken over LA and people are hiding underground. Another odd thing to note, how come more people aren't in LA? They even said Skynet doesn't normally go there. Seems like a good place to hide out.
Back to the Marcus capture scene, another thing that seemed really random was the one pilot chick he saved setting him free. I'm sure she felt some connection to him after he saved her life. However, she then just found out that he is a machine. The same things they have been fighting from for years. I can see her arguing to have him be studied and to learn more about him as he was different. But, to just set him free? She risked her life for a machine. Doesn't seem like a normal reaction even considering that he saved her.
Moving on further into the movie, the whole thing inside of the Skynet complex was just nuts. The main thing being that Kyle was the number one target on a Skynet termination list. So, they capture him and put him in a prison. Now, they try to explain this away by saying he is bait to capture John Connor, but if they actually killed him, Connor would have still come. I don't see why they didn't kill Kyle. Even so, somehow, John Connor is inside of the Skynet complex, and Skynet is STILL unable to kill him. They have one actual Terminator in this entire central base? What type of operation is Skynet running. The first base they went to had no machines, and their main base had one?
The scene where Skynet explains their whole plan to Marcus was just too stupid to mention. It was basically the same thing that happens at the end of every episode of Scooby Doo after they take the mask off the criminal. I guess at that point in the movie, I was unshocked at how stupid it could get.
Finally, the movie ends with a heart transplant being done at some medical base that is just throw together in the middle of nowhere. I'd like to think that by 2018 heart transplants can just be done at anytime and anywhere, I'm sure it's a lot more complicated than that. Plus, didn't Marcus just die and have to be resuscitated moments before? I'm not sure if he was really a good candidate for a heart transplant.
I suppose that will conclude my rant for now. There is probably a lot more I could say. It's been a week now since I saw the movie, so it's not fresh in my mind, and I only saw it the one time. I'm sure I'll see it again once it's on DVD. This movie may actually be a rental though, and might be the first Terminator I won't actually own.