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REVIEW: Terminator: Salvation (12A) at Cineworld
THE LATEST Terminator movie hits our screens with plenty of baggage.
Two of the previous three films were both critical and commercial smashes but the latest instalment is directed by a man called McG – a director much mocked for his moniker and helming of the Charlie's Angels movies.
And, it turns out, the film is simultaneously far better than expected and even worse than hoped for.
Technically, McG has done a fairly good job. There is a decent plot, a good cast and the film certainly looks the part, full of burnished metal Terminators, mushroom clouds and threatening wastelands.
However, Terminator: Salvation hasn't replicated the first film's knack of delivering bags of character with precious little dialogue, and doesn't quite have the inventiveness of the second film.
It also misses the visceral kick of one unstoppable machine and the potency of the action being set against a familiar backdrop.
The movie becomes, unfortunately, just another apocalyptic shoot-'em-up, albeit a rather slick one. The plot (despite the layers of time travel and sons being older than fathers that litter the script) focuses on a man called Marcus (Sam Worthington) whom we see being executed in the first scenes.
He is 'reborn' into the war on the machines, which is being fought by resistance groups including John Connor (Christian Bale).
But whose side he is on? Can Connor trust him? And will Connor be able to save Kyle Rees (his father and protagonist of the first film) in order to send him back to the past to meet his mother so she can give birth to John who can save the world?
Anyone not up to speed on Terminator mythology will probably have a pretty tough time figuring out the plot – there's certainly precious little exposition going on amid the shouting.
Indeed, Bale is rather wasted in a role that only involves growling and glowering. Good as he is at both those activities, he has plenty more to offer as an actor, and the constant shouting becomes a little tiresome.
Fans of the Terminator series will find plenty to like, despite the film's drawbacks, but Bale's magic touch hasn't managed to reinvigorate the series as successfully as the Batman movies.
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Monday 13 February 2012
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