By James White, MSN Movies |  |
Terminator: Salvation - Excited?
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It’s something different
We’ve gotten so used to seeing the typical Terminator story – lethal cyborg is sent back in time to kill John Connor/Sarah Connor and something stops them. At last we’re getting a look at a different chunk of the mythology – Connor actually bringing the battle to Skynet, with the film working more as a war movie than the typical chase.
We already known Christian Bale can bring his grouchy, growly all to films like The Dark Knight, and he seems like a top choice for the battered and war-weary Connor. But the real surprise looks to be the largely (in the UK at least) unknown Aussie actor Sam Worthington, who impressed James Cameron enough that he cast him in Avatar and seems to be getting the lion’s share of script and screen time in Salvation.
We’ve only ever been teased by James Cameron (and to a lesser extent, T3 helmer Jonathan Mostow) about the future war between man and the machines. Now we get a full-on film set in that world, with giant Harvester robots bestriding the ravaged desert, cool Motorbike-like Terminators screaming down the roads and even a glimpse of the T-600 ‘bots, exactly as described in the first movie as clumsy and easy to spot as non-human.
Director McG has also made sure that there are plenty of nods to the first three movies – in musical choices, lines (Connor in one of the trailers says “I’ll be back”) and even, we’re promised, a cameo from a certain iconic actor whose face is vital to the Terminator experience.
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It has been written over and over again
In true Hollywood style, Salvation has been through more re-writes than the extras on the film go hot meals. The original script has been through several hands, including Jonah Nolan and Crash’s Paul Haggis. Can that really result in a polished final product, or will it be a crazed soup of ideas?
While he proved he could make better movies with We Are Marshall, McG is still battling his own reputation as the man who did Charlie’s Angels. He’s got a lot to prove and while the trailers look action packed, we worry about the drama that also needs to be included.
Excellent
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