[*Whatever By The Books*]

I’d actually written this last Wednesday, but only putting it up now…procrastination. Just came back from the preview of Terminator Salvation (aka Terminator 4) — and I just have to say, it was interesting, but it wasn’t as shiny as Star Trek (the last movie I watched, also thanks to the Contagious Network), nor were the characters as interesting.

Then again, the whole movie had a rather gritty feel to it, partly stemming from the fact that it’s a machine-dominated dystopia.
Anyone who’s heard about the Terminator franchise should know about the basic premise — Skynet, the AI gone self-aware and rogue, has driven weak humans into the ground. Said humans have formed small pockets of resistance. Among the resistance, there’s a soldier called John Connor, who, compared to the stodgy older leaders, is the one who is practically a radio idol for the scattered troops. (Have a look at him posing like an idol..-coughs-)

That is, if even kids like Karl Reese (who will be sent back to the past in the future…such a mouthful) and the little girl, Star, can be considered soldiers.

The story was interesting, and though the twist was predictable, I still ended up tearing up at the end because I liked the character of Marcus Wright, played by Sam Worthington. A lot more than I did John Connor (Christian Bale) , actually. XD

This review at Cinematical sums it up nicely: (bolded bits added~)

“We don’t care because he never gives us a reason to. His wife Kate’s giant pregnant belly is barely mentioned (if at all), and the two spend maybe four minutes together the entire film. He listens to his mother’s voice (Linda Hamilton, in a small cameo) on a tape recorder with little reaction, as if they’re instructional do-it-yourself recordings bought on sale at Sears. This version of John Connor is rough, loud and angry; a perpetual road-rager. Honestly, he’s a little bit of a dick. And that would be fine if he was likable, but he’s not — with the exception being: “Hey, look, it’s the guy who plays Batman!”"

And when it comes to the plot, I don’t think they meant us to poke at it too much (like some critics are probably doing) — I must say, though, that the actors have interesting names. Moon Bloodgood is hot and kicks ass, while Jadagrace is actually quite talented, though I have to say I don’t quite buy her scared face. (More like stoned face?) Have a listen to her unexpectedly-catchy song on her site .

Terminator is now playing at Australian cinemas, about a month after it’s been out in the US. (Yes, US people, go ahead and brag.) If you watch it, remember to watch out for the “cameo” of someone interesting…it’s hard you’d miss it, though. XD Its present score on Rotten Tomatoes is 33% rotten, though it fares a bit better at IMDB, with a score of 7.2/10.

Somehow I can’t access the trailer on the site, so have a look at a version listed on youtube if you’re interested. I’m told Christian Bale is using his Batman voice. I also tried out their game..and while it was vaguely-amusing, it took too long to load and had the worst controls I’ve probably seen. Ugh.

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