Terminator: Salvation - A Review

I only watched this movie because Ben asked me to... I was not familiar with the story of the previous three Terminator movies. I only know enough of the story to know what is happening. And I have to say, this fourth movie really did its part in filling in the holes for a Terminator newbie like me.


I didn't know much about this movie so I was quite surprised when I saw the cast list and the production team at the beginning of the movie. This is totally a star cast movie, with Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Helena Bonham Carter, and many more remarkable actors. This movie is directed by McG and his stylish signature camera shots are truly remarkable.

The movie opened with a man on death row donating his body to scientific research. Then fast forward to year 2018, we have narration and explanation from John Connor(Christian Bale) about what happend to the world. Then we saw the very same man, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) emerging from rubbles after a bombing. After a series of twist and turns, we were introduced to teenage Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and Star (Jadagrace). Then Marcus met pilot Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) after Kyle and Star was captured by the machines. When they were on the way back to Resistance base camp, Marcus was blown opened by a landmine and we discovered that Marcus was actually the Terminator T-800 prototype. (T-800 was the machine played by Arnold Swchaze-i-don't-know-how-to-spell-negger in the earlier movies) Later, Kyle, who was suppose to be John's father as John sent him back to the past to impregnant his mother Sarah Connor so that John can save the future (Don't ask me what happen... Time travelling is complicated...) Er... where was I? Ok, Kyle was captured by the machines and sent to SkyNet headquarters, pilot Blair Williams helped Marcus escaped and Marcus and Connor planned a kickass rescue team into the enemies' headquarters. The catch was Kyle must survive at all cost because if he dies, there will be no John Connor, there will be no Resistance, there will be no future, and there will be no movies. Anyway, rescue mission successful after a lot of kickass banging and slamming between the human and the machines. It was an expected and happy ending.


The soundtrack was great. The plot was predictable... John Connor has somehow become the side story while Marcus Wright was like the main story. Maybe they should rename this movie Terminator Origin : T-800. But the most brilliant thing about the whole movie is the camera shots. It was so stylish but not too polish. It was so smooth yet rough enough to be realistic. The audiences were some times shown in a first person point of view so it was like we were there as the thing happened. It was really nice and never boring. And the actors... In my humble opinion, all the great actors are in this movie. The ever- versatile Christian Bale, the realistic Sam Worthington, tough girl Moon Bloodgood, the kid who is able to potray all kinds of emotions -- Anton Yelchin... and so many more...


Ratings : 7/10. Good shots and cool soundtracks. Very newbie- friendly. If you want polished scenes, look elsewhere. If you want non-stop action, look elsewhere. If you want thriller, watch Angels and Demons. This is a movie where realistic is the key word.