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John Connor: I knew it. I knew it was coming. But this is not the future my mother warned me about. And in this future, I don't know if we can win this war. This is John Connor.
Skynet has destroyed most of the planet with a nuclear holocaust, and one man believes he can change the course they are all doomed for. His name is John Connor and he believes that he is the key to the resistance. He must try and find Kyle Reese who in another reality will eventually become his father. With John trying to save Kyle and the prisoners at Skynight he must rely on the help of Marcus Wright, a half man half machine that John believes is there to kill him.
I have been struggling with my thoughts on this film since I watched it. I didnt hate, however it didnt come off as that impressive to me either. Why some people might ask, so I will do things a bit differently since I have mixed feelings on this film. I will make a list of Pros and Cons.
Pros
Anton Yelchin- This young man gave the best performance in the entire film as Kyle Reese. He is a good young actor and has had his name attached to two different major franchises in the same year. That is a great accomplishment for a 20 year old. Anton should perhaps venture away from Action in the coming years therefore audiences can finally see what the kid can do as far as a dramatic non action film is concerned. I believe he will be one of the great young actors within the next 5 years. His talents rivals that of 23 year old mega star Shia Labeouf.
Characterization- Yes the characters were developed. John Connor as a character was a lot better then I ever remember him being in the past. Connor always seemed like that whiny child afriad to fend for himself, so the whole world protected him as best as they could. This time around he was a man played by Chris Bale (whose performance left more to be desired) but he was fighting for the resistance not sitting back while the resistance and everyone who is still alive were fighting for him.
Helena Bonham Carter- Yes she has the smallest part in the film, but she is awesome again. She never fails to impress, all though I was surprised that she is doing a major film franchise it doesn’t surprise me that she nailed the performance spot on. Her little part in the film was the second best performance falling right in behind Anton Yelchin. Bonham Carter is a seriously twisted actress and she has a flare for the dark and mysterious. Another great performance
Cons-
Arnie- Yes I missed Arnie in this film. It just didn’t feel the same without him. He was the face of the franchise and to simply just plaster his young face on the body of a Terminator was a disgrace if you want my opinion. Either he agrees to cameo or you leave him out of the film entirely.
Christian Bale- He used his Batman voice, the raspy disguise of a voice he uses when Bruce Wayne doesn’t want people to know he is Batman. I guess you let the cat out of the bag Mr. Bale, Bruce Wayne is Batman and it appears to me like you have made a statement by taking on another major film franchise. I’m starting to wonder if Chris Nolan comes a knocking, are you even going to care about the Franchise that really made you known to almost all of America. Now I read it depends on the script whether or not you return for another Terminator. Yet you have made no claim to return to Batman, and I am sure Nolan can deliver you a third amazing script. Mr. Bale Batman will give you the quality, where I am sad to say the Terminator Franchise is slowly on the decline, go with Batman.
Action- The action was a bit predictable, you knew Connor wasn’t going to die, you knew Marcus Wright was good, you knew Kyle Reese wasn’t going to die in some tragic accident at Sky Net. Unlike Star Trek you just couldn’t get into these characters amidst the action, they seemed to stone faced, especially Mr. Bale. He was just shooting and killing and shooting and killing and never did he ever show any facial expressions of concern. Oh and his "WE ARE ALL DEAD!" was such a painful line because Bale was way to over dramatic, sorry Bale you are a good actor, but action and acting didn’t seem to come natural to you this time around.
There are three pros and three cons I am sure have already been discussed before. And like I said before, I just couldn’t find myself getting into another film with the Terminator name plastered all over it. I found the attempts to pay homage to the classics were forced and otherwise could have been left out. Star Trek on the other hand paid homage to the classic by making a brand new film that restarted the series. I read a bunch of articles that this Terminator is a prequel or somehow plays into the other three, which really made no sense to me at all. They should have restarted, it is one thing fans will always somewhat respect you for. Even if you fail miserably, someone will be there telling you that you at least tried.
Yes an entire review without mentioning the director McG or the whole Bale meltdown on set. Seriously call it quits guys, you are just carrying on the Terminator name because you can.
6/10
