A War This Time (Terminator: Salvation, 2009)

Six years later, the studio wanted to try and reboot the franchise. The biggest twist of the film this time around? No time travel. The beginning of a planned trilogy set during the war, Christian Bale takes over the role of John Conner.

The film focuses upon Marcus, who awakens in the middle of the war and starts trying to figure out what is going on. He ends up on the run with Kyle Reese and young mute girl Star. When they run into other survivors, they come under attack by the machines who kidnap Star and Kyle. Marcus ends up seeking the help of John Conner, believing they need to work together to save and the others from Skynet.

Truthfully, the film has mostly decent effects and it is full of very talented actors…but I never feel really drawn into the story. It tries to surprise us, but the set-up at the beginning telegraphs to much…?

The visual effects are very good (though a CGI Arnold is pretty rubbery looking) and there are a lot of exciting action scenes. But we get a lot of “machine perspective” shots, which in the previous films gave us insight into the Terminators…but it just feels performative here, because who cares what the random flying machine or motorcycle perspective is.

This is not a terrible film, but it is more a sci-fi war movie that happens to have terminator machines in it than a Terminator movie. And to be honest, I never found myself wishing for a huge focus on the war itself, feeling that it works better as a background part of the story.

June 24, 2020 0

Rinse and Repeat (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, 2003)

It took nearly a decade before there was a follow-up to T2: Judgement Day. This time around, the focus is on an early 20’s John Conner. He has been living off the grid and the original date for Judgement Day came and went without incident. Conner is a journeyman, working construction jobs, believing the crisis averted and his future uncertain.

This is all changed when a T-800 appears and abducts John and a veterinarian named Kate. Another high end model, the T-X, has arrived with a larger agenda. Instead of John, the T-X is targeting all his generals.

It is revealed to John and Kate that they are, in fact destined to be husband and wife and lead the resistance together.

The big twist of the T-X is both that it is the female Terminator we see and she is liquid metal over an endoskeleton. She is able to imitate other people, but her main form is as Sexy Badass. This seems a bit odd to have the endoskeleton, because that would suggest she can only imitate people who match her height. I admit, this is probably a minor nitpick.

They try and give twists, as Arnold’s Terminator is revealed to be a Terminator that successfully killed John Conner and has been sent back by Kate. The film also reveals Sarah Conner died of cancer. It almost feels like they are trying a bit to hard to surprise the audience.

That said, honestly? I enjoy Rise of the Machines quite a bit. It does kick off the ridiculous focus on massive carnage candy set pieces…but it is a fun film…and I like that it commits to the end. Listen, they cannot successfully kill Skynet. Judgement Day has to happen for there to be a franchise at all. It is a messy film, but a lot of fun to watch.

June 23, 2020 0

Twice Upon a Terminator (Terminator 2: Judgement Day, 1991)

After the Terminator, James Cameron proved it was not a fluke with the sequel to Alien, Aliens, and the Abyss. Cameron determined his idea for a sequel to the Terminator was a technical possibility.

Picking up ten years after the first film, we find that Sarah Conner is locked up in an asylum and John Conner is now in the foster care system. John is a bit of a delinquent, using the skills his mother taught him before they were torn apart by the government.

One evening, two men appear…one a sleek killer and the other a familiar face. We find the threatening villain of the first film is now a Terminator sent back to protect John from a more advanced Terminator.

John quickly establishes some rules for his new protector when it almost kills two men who think John is in trouble and come to his rescue. Particularly, John commands the Terminator to never kill a human. These commands lead to several moments where the Terminator carefully shoots people with non-lethal precision (at one point telling John, “He’ll live”).

They break Sarah out of the asylum just as the T-1000 arrives, so there is an exciting escape sequence. As the trio run from the T-1000, Sarah picks the Terminator’s files to find out how Skynet still came to pass, and determining she must kill the man who creates Skynet.

From here on out, I will use the popular moniker T2. Cameron loves to push technical limits and this sequel is no different in that way. Expanding on the morphing tech used in the Abyss for the water tentacles and created the liquid metal T-1000. Able to form bladed weapons and imitate various people it comes in contact with. When combined with a cold inhuman performance from Robert Patrick, the T-1000 is menacing.

The T-800 is more of a quippy action hero, but it really works here. The film spends a fair amount of time building the relationship between John and his Terminator, so that by the end both John and Sarah feel a real connection to the machine, who seems to also have genuine concern for John.

The film also plays around with the premise of who is worse. Sarah becomes determined to kill Miles Dyson to prevent the creation of Skynet. When she nearly succeeds, she finds herself facing his young son begging her not to kill him, Sarah freezes, as she realizes she was being more like a Terminator than a human. The evolution of Sarah from the frightened waitress of the first film to a hardcore warrior barely holding on to her humanity is effectively done.

While the film tries to end on an open note, it really throws off the perfect loop of the first film. That criticism is made of later films and the television regarding the timeline is pretty much a problem the minute you make a sequel. Still, this is a fun and exciting flick with some solid humor and emotion. My preferred version is Cameron’s extended cut, which includes some great little touches, such as the reveal that near the end, the T-1000 is glitching. T2 is well loved because it is great at what it is trying to be. The action is intense, the drama effective and the effects pretty amazing.

June 22, 2020 0

A Wrench In Time (The Terminator, 1984)

In 1984, James Cameron was a genre vet, but not quite the guy we think of. He had no mega-hits…yet. Cameron came up out of the Corman school and made his names with technical and special effects….especially stretching the low budget effects.

His one theatrical film before the Terminator is Piranha II: the Spawning, and then his next film is…

In 1984 a mysterious massive stranger appears in a crackle of lightning in an alley. He has a singular aim and will.

Elsewhere, another man appears in an alley (less gracefully). Disoriented he asked when he is. He, like the more ominous stranger has a goal…in fact they are both here to locate Sarah Conner, a young woman of immense importance to the future.

Both men are from the future, one where there is a war between man and machine. When the machines realize they are about to lose, they send back a Terminator, a large massive robot covered in human flesh to allow them to infiltrate human encampments and kill a target. The Terminator’s target is the mother of the man who will rally humanity together to defeat the robot oppressors.

Kyle Reese has been sent back to protect young Sarah Conner from the Terminator.

The Terminator is a shockingly good second film, showing that Cameron had a real vision as he made the film. It is a sci-fi horror film that keeps everything simple. By the team it ends, we have a perfect circle of time, so it is not confusing or asking you to make any bigger stretch than accepting time travel.

Cameron is as committed to his characters as much as effects and action. Sarah is believable and sympathetic as an everyman finding herself in an impossible situation and rising to occasion. Considering the biggest ask is that we believe she falls in love with Reese overnight, and Hamilton and Biehn have enough chemistry to make it work.

Arnold Schwarzenegger had already made a mark as Conan, but this time he has a real menacing charisma that sells the notion that a massive cyborg is walking the city.

The effects remain an outstanding achievement. Sure, you can see the stop motion models and the rubber heads…but they are such well crafted effects, you do not mind and they are downright pleasing to watch.

The Terminator is a film that has withstood the test of time and such an incredibly impressive effort for someone’s second film.

June 19, 2020 0