Over the past few weeks, we've seen the 2009 movie season head towards the Summer blockbuster's with highly anticipated releases of Star Trek, an X-Man and some Star Wars fans. Pulling in $13 million on its Thurday opening, add some Salvation to that list now.
Set in a not too distant apocalyptic world, Terminator Salvation starts off with the "pre-machine era" story of death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) signing over his body to scientific research before getting executed. Fast forward to 2018 as a band of resistance fighters try to take out Skynet's (the computer defense system that became sentient and launched a nuclear war) communication systems. Enter John Connor, played by Dark Knight star Christian Bale, into a post-apocalyptic California where Skynet has left Los Angeles in rubble and the machines have claimed San Francisco as their headquarters. I was hesitant to think he could pull off this role, but from the moment he appears on the screen, the movie embarks on an action packed adventure with more chills, spills, kills and thrills then a T-800 at an amusement park.
Viewed by some survivors as the solution and by others as a false prophet, Connor touches down on a recon mission in a sewer tunnel, only to stumble upon a group of caged humans. After freeing them to the surface for extraction, Connor climbs up to the surface to find his crew dead and the captives taken away by a Hunter Killer flying transport.
Jumping into a helicopter in pursuit, Connor is shot down almost immediately leading into an amazing crash scene that puts you right in the pilot seat. Disoriented and alone in the field, a half destroyed endoskeleton pursues Bale to which he eventually disposes of, but the never give up attitude of the machines is conveyed perfectly and director McG sets the tone for a wild ride of explosive special effects that will have you on the edge of your seat.
The plot then shifts to the Marcus Wright story (easily figured out by the commercial spots), who establishes his relationship with a teen Kyle Reese, played by Anton Yelchin, Star Trek's Chekov. Mixed in are supporting roles from rapper-turned-actor Common, Bryce Dallas Howard (Gwen Stacy from Spider-Man 3), Michael Ironside (Total Recall) and Harry Potter's Helena Bonham Carter to add extra star power of the film. But the crowd's reaction to a CG appearance of the original Terminator turned Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was priceless with some even standing and cheering. I was wary at first upon hearing of his transplanted computer generated face from the original film, but the graphics department pulled it off seamlessly and should be commended.
Although it may be lacking the plot and shock value of the original, after the dismal T3: Rise of the Machines, Salvation is a welcome addition to the Terminator franchise with any fan of big explosions, intense action and robotic killing machines sure to be pleased. With a plethora of new machines like the Moto-Terminator, T-RIP, T-600 and 700, sprinkled in with some old favorites, Sci-Fi fans will be pleasantly surprised. After attending the midnight opening (which sold out 4 theaters at my local cinema), i had to check over my shoulder to see if there were any incessantly persistent human killing machines pursuing me back to my car.
Must see for any Terminator fan, if not only for the Governator's cameo.
7.5 out of 10 stars
