Mountain FogTERMINATOR SALVATION: HOLLYWOOD DAMNATION
June 11th 2009 08:04
Christian Bale discovers he's short-sighted in Terminator Salvation
If you’re at all an Internet junky you’ve probably listened to the notorious clip on Youtube taken from the set of Terminator Salvation where Christian Bale tears shreds off some poor crewmember for interfering with his ‘art’. It’s equal parts shocking and funny, and you can’t help but chuckle at the hubris being flung towards the profusely apologetic tech. But after watching Terminator Salvation it’s much easier to be kind to Bale with regards to his outburst, because you realise he was simply in character.
John Connor, as rendered by Bale, is a monosyllabic and dislikeable brute who shouts when trying to make a point, which is most the time. Modern filmmakers have finally managed to totally remould the character, so the resourceful and laid back version peddled by a young Edward Furlong was left behind long ago, with the path to Bale’s grumpy vessel taking a drab detour through Nick Stahl’s petulant loser of the third film.
So John Connor stinks. It’s a good thing then that Terminator Salvation isn’t really his story. Rather, it’s the tale of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a murderer on death row when the film opens in 2003. Marcus, in an effort to make amends for his crimes, has been talked into donating his body to science by a terminally ill researcher (Helena Bonham Carter, who obviously wandered onto the wrong sound stage).
Fifteen years later and Marcus wakes up, naked and confused, in a post-apocalyptic landscape: is he man or machine? Killer or saviour? American or Australian? Looking for answers, the former dead man walking makes his way to Los Angeles, where he’s pulled from the sites of a Terminator by a young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). Reese, hiding at night in what looks to be the burnt out remains of James Cameron’s backyard, hands over a crusty copy of the original Terminator script, and Marcus is brought up to speed on everything Skynet.
Spurred by a nightly radio transmission from John Connor, the two men – along with Chaka Khan’s granddaughter – decide to make their way to the inland base of the resistance, where Reese can join with the freedom fighters, Marcus can start unravelling the existential questions over his existence, and Chaka Jr. Jr. can lay down some tracks for her debut album.
So rolls a moronic action picture full of meathead characters, ship-swallowing plot holes and ludicrous dialogue. That such a mighty franchise has been brought to its knees is a depressing statement on the condition of modern blockbusters and while much of the blame will probably be laid at the feet of director McG, like many a modern film the problems with Terminator Salvation begin with its script.
The early Terminator films tended to play on the existentialism of their time travel elements and as such they contained a lot of character for big budget pictures. Unfortunately, Salvation’s screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris try to tackle similar thematic ground without any character at all. Marcus seems to show remorse for his crimes at the start of the film but the nature of what he did is never explained and any redemption he therefore seeks fails to resonate. Similarly, John Connor is an empty vessel and some of his actions run completely contrary to what we know about him from earlier films.
John Connor (Chirstian Bale) realises his 'shout' tactic isn't working on Marcus Wright's (Sam Worthington) titanium-coated eardrums
The only character to show barely any development at all is Reese, but even then his progress from the callow teen of the early reels is stunted and incomplete. Besides, he’s lost in the shuffle of bit players such as Common, Moon Bloodgood and Bryce Dallas Howard, who all wander into frame occasionally, offer a platitude or two, and then piss off back to their respective trailers. By the end of the film, when the time comes for the humans to infiltrate Skynet’s base – where the Terminators seem to be in league with the Saudi Arabians! – you’ve completely lost interest and much more content to simply throw popcorn at the little kid two rows in front of you.
McG’s direction doesn’t help the film either. There’s little time for exposition in his take on the Terminator saga; just lots of action to be thrown the audience’s way at a bamboozling clip. By halfway through you’re so overstuffed with unceasing hostilities you can’t help but be desensitised and carrying an acute migraine. There’s no rhythm to McG’s work on Terminator Salvation, and things aren’t helped by Conrad Buff’s at times amateurish editing job.
What you’re left with at the end of Terminator Salvation is a bombastic and ugly mess. As the final credits roll, you can imagine all of the major contributors stepping back and quickly formulating their story for the blame game that will inevitably accompany the fallout from such a ham-fisted venture.
While McG will certainly take a beating – and Danny Elfman also deserves a serve for throwing away the original Terminator score – you can’t help but feel the man who’ll be most damaged by the enterprise is Bale: with this role stacked on top of his recent outings as Batman, he’s developed an ill-fitting shtick that’s in danger of typecasting him as a curmudgeonly blowhard. Perhaps that threat will be enough to make him think twice about reprising the role of John Connor, and in the process wipe away any chance of a deranged fifth outing in the Terminator franchise.
For a look at the state of the modern Hollywood blockbuster take a look at my article on 20/20 Filmsight.
Check out the trailer for Terminator Salvation below:
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Comment by MVD
So basically, this isn't quite Bill Cosby's abortive "Leonard, Part 6," but certainly swirls in the same toilet water. Great review, by the way. It's been raining for days straight here, and I needed the laugh.
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
The Saudi Arabia joke - just wait for the establishing shot when Marcus goes to infiltrate the Terminator base... Oh dear, now I'm recommending you go see it.
Yes, Leonard 6 was bad, but bear in mind Bale doesn't have Fat Albert to fall back on when times get tough.
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I nearly saw this last week but am now thinking it's a DVD job.
Been listening to the Elfman score this week and it stands up brilliantly on CD - no doubt buried under effects in the film I'd imagine? I understand people associating with Brad Fiedel's original theme and work on the first 2 films but the guy's limited range of synths really has no relevance anymore and I'm all for re-imagining this world with the voice of a real composer. (Sorry Brad!)
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Great point about Brancato and Ferris - they have a litany of crud to their names.
And yes, perhaps I was being a bit hard on Elfman, but throwing away the main theme is still a tad harsh. Perhaps I'd love the score if the rest of the film was actually digestible.