Terminator Salvation has all you would expect from an action film. A plot concerning the end of humanity as we know it. Special effects that drip endlessly from the screen. And swathes of self important American heroes growling one-liners, exploding things and generally saving the world. The film’s complete lack of ambition to deviate from set formulae makes for a deliriously dull experience.
It is 2018 and humanity is yet again on the verge of extinction. John Connor is leading the human resistance against Skynet (the robots). His leadership, however, is affected by the ambiguous appearance of a half-human, half-machine Marcus Wright. After initial suspicions and distrust, the duo will embark on a journey to uncover the terrible secrets of Skynet…
The weakest aspect of Terminator is its script. The plot is predictable, written more to cater the endless array of CGI-effects rather than to convey a meaningful story. The characters speak in cliches-‘Come with me if you want to live’-and fail to evoke any sympathy. The survivors could as well have been the machines.
The script limits any opportunity for the actors to elaborate on their roles. For example, John Connor’s wife is a medic and is pregnant-but her lines are limited to mechanically analysing patients. The audience is never given a chance to empathise with her circumstances or feelings. The only delight that comes from spending two hours in the cinema is the strong and moving cameo Helena Bohnam Carter has at the beginning of the film.
Terminator: Salvation fails to strike a balance between the special effects and the core plot of the movie. We are bombarded with loud noises, brash graphics and long fighting sequences. Although indeed, impressive, this has all been done before and Terminator fails to breathe any excitement into the war between Skynet and humanity, and is anything but a worthy follow-up on the Terminator franchise.
The film is painfully American in style, with an overt celebration of the badly-developed protagonist. If you last more than an hour of this unsalvageable, cliched movie; take satisfaction in your abnormally high tolerance for bad writing.
One Star
