So with every Terminator movie, there was the Gov. and there was a new villain even more badass than the previous. In T2, we got the amazing liquid metal Robert Patrick and in T3, it was a hot Terminator. What’s the fourth Terminator like? Half man, half machine, the rebellion’s worst nightmare. John Connor is played by non other than, I’m gonna scream at the top of my lungs for five minutes, Christian Bale. He does a great job with emotion, but believe it or not, the character is fairly nonexistent. He is in a bunker for most of the movie minus the beginning and end. The man who stole the show? Sam Worthington! Remember this man’s name. He is an Australian actor who is coming up, big time! His next movie is Avatar with Jame’s “F-in’” Cameron – Entourage. He has to play the new Terminator that may or may not be the villain.
The casting was excellent, but was the movie? I have to be honest, it wasn’t that great. So how do we judge great? Let’s go through a check list. Do you love action movies? Check, this film is for you. Do you want non-stop action for two straight hours? Check. Do you want a look at the Terminator future? Check. Do you want a few “wink wink” moments from past Terminator movies? Check, remember the scar on John Connor’s face. Do you want a substantial movie plot with the raw emotion of the past Terminator flicks? Close but no cigar (no pun intended).
The film is eye candy, with very little substance that makes you care about what happens to the characters. The story is so re-done and re-hashed that you feel like it could be anyone of the four Terminator movies and it wouldn’t matter, just different actors. Director McG does what he can with the source material. His direction is action, through and through. There is a memorable action sequence where you are inside of a helicopter as it crashes. Fantastic! The CGI was creative, but nothing new. The new machines they’ve introduced are again, nothing more than eye candy, ala the new motorcycle machines.
If you’re a Terminator fan you’ll LIKE the movie, not love it. If you’re an action fan, same goes for you. But if you’re looking for a movie with emotion and the human struggle, it aint happenin’. I would say rent this one folks. There are far better action movies out there with a lot more substance.
… SPOILER ALERT/Wink Wink…
From IMDB Trivia, referenced it earlier: The scars that appear on post Judgment Day John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) are a direct result of the final climactic scene in this movie which the molten hot T-800 scratches John Connor's face in their confrontation at SkyNet Central.
