What's Wrong with 'Terminator Salvation'?

Leading into this summer, I geniunely felt as though Terminator Salvation would be one of the top movies of the summer. I'm not refering to box office, although I certainly felt as though it would do well in that regard, but rather that it would be one of the best blockbusters that we'll see before Labor Day. But that's definitely not the case. Although we've received some comments from people that think Terminator is actually pretty good, there's a larger school of thought that this one just misses the mark. So who or what is to blame? McG seems like an easy target, but I'm not sure it's all on him. I think he directed the script he had fairly well. You could argue that he should have insisted on different things in the script or whatever, but I didn't come away from it thinking it was horribly directed. The cast is hit and miss, but that's a direct reflection of the script, which is another reason that's what I point to as the weak link. There's not enough for John Connor to do, so Christian Bale, in my mind, pales in comparison to Sam Worthington and also Anton Yelchin. Or is Warner Bros. the culprit? The film was apparently written to be R-rated, but the studio insisted that a nude scene be cut out. Who knows what else is left on the cutting room floor? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on just where one of the most promising movies of the year came up short.

Comments

[Joe]

I don't think the movie was that bad. Remember, considering the fact that Arnold plays no part in this movie except for a digital representation of himself, it does a pretty decent job of giving you the back story to the subsequent films. In a world of really bad prequels (Star Wars), i have to say i don't see why so many people are down on this film.

[RemmyRousant]

Read this which basically explains the hate. I also liked the movie, decent popcorn movie.
http://thefilmstage.com/2009/05/22/in-defense-of-terminator-salvation/

[jackm2211]

I think what some people don't like is so many special effects, but not so much depth in story lines. There are also a lot of plot holes in the movies--too many that when you came out of the theater, you cannot find any probable answer but to blame on the script or director himself.

I don't hate the movie, but it has a lot more potential to be a lot better than this with $200 million production budget. The movie is filled with action after action, but I would like to see more about the story. Good movie is not all about CGI, it needs character development, interesting story, and some twists. If you like just action movie with loads of special effects but don't have think much, this movie is for you. More importantly, the marketing and franchise of this movie were what made me see this movie and I hate this trick.

[anybody]

I think there are a couple of problems...

the expectations raised by the trailer, which gave me chills it looked so good and 'deep' in its exploration of character and the themes that make the first two terminators so unforgettable.

T2 can possibly be to blame because its one of the best action movies ever made. I watched it the other day and even now the effects don't feel dated, the seriousness of the film is mixed with the levity of Arnold and Furlong bonding and the action is killer with great pacing (mix of story and action)

Lastly, in response to the article posted by remmy above, its one thing to be 'dumb-fun' which is often received well because of intent. The other movies know they are dumb-fun and offer light and fun scripts to match the special effects. its hard to be dark and brooding and still be dumb fun... this film is like the emo-terminator. If you plan to be serious and brooding, you need some depth beyond the average action flick like a Transformers which is the definition of popcorn fun.

[Jeff]

I liked it quite a bit. It may not have been as great as I hoped for but I wasn't disappointed. The problem I keep hearing is it lacks a good plot and good dialog. I don't quite get that. The dialog wasn't great but it sufficient. The plot was pretty decent for me. I liked the story of Marcus and Kyle. We already have the broad strokes for John Conner's character, so I don't know how much we need there. Assuming the make more movies after this we already have an idea of what will happen. We'll just get a more detailed version of what we already know. It is just entertaining to actually see it instead of hearing someone from the future come to the present and explain it.

[Drychin]

I see what everyones getting at, personnaly i enjoyed it, a little over dramatic but it was still thrilling and fun to watch. Special effects have come such a long way in the past few years and i think this movie was a great example of that. I'm a guy, and usually when i go to an action movie its not for the acting but for the effects and I think this movie delivered that. I agree with buddy who said the trailor made this look like a bone chilling amazing blockbuster and it wasn't quite that but it was still pretty good. I think everyone can agree when I say atleast this wasn't another terminator 3 waste of my time.

[Jason]

How some people are bitching about Terminator 3 is beyond me. That is in many ways better than T2. This one was without question the worst in the franchise. The best part was definitely when the 'Arnold-esque' T-800 appeared. This 'McG' character is not much of a director. I had more plot in my 6th grade Christmas play. Nick Stahl should have returned as Connor, as Bale's Connor was forgettable, as was every other character besides Marcus. Worthington did a very good job, but otherwise the film was a waste of time, not T3. So if you think 'everyone can agree,' you don't think much at all.

[Simon Traversy]

In order to enjoy this movie, I kept two things in mind: I said 1: Simon there's been so much commotion over legal rights over the years, especially since Linda Hamilton called the quits from Terminator creator James Cameron, that the movie will aim to entertain us rather than bet on character development and deep introspections. In that regard, I can understand why the Halcyon company and Warner Bros decided to play ''safe''. Despite mix reviews like the Wolverine prequel, the movie will still be a huge financial success and that will secure the making of the new terminator trilogy they intend to make. Dialogue was weak though, maybe hiring different writers next time could be an idea and in order to add more meet to the bone, either add flashbacks just like in Terminator 1 when Kyle Reese falls asleep or thinks or either add a narrator to put things in perspective and explain the context of war and of course add some some character development: what did John Connor do right after Judgement Day? What did Kyle Reese do? what about his family? Capitalize on the ''father-son'' relationship etc.. People love background information.