Initiate. Pwnage.
It's a little difficult for me to start this review, but I'll begin with some honesty (as always). I am a huge Terminator fan. My dog is named after John Connor, and I think that's pathetic. I distinctly recall owning a miniature Arnold T-800 action figure as a child, but I could be mistaken. There's a good possibility that it was on my wish-list for quite some time, but I know for a fact that I owned a rather shitty action figure of the mechanic Arny, and I assure you that he kicked loads, and loads of DragonBall Z ass.
This movie was directed by McG (what?), the same douchebag who brought you both of the Charlies Angels movies. I knew right away that this movie would feature zero nipple, but I was willing to make that sacrifice. I do, however, wish that they grew a pair and went with the R instead of the PG-13. I'm sure they're trying to compete with blockbusters such as Star Trek and Wolverine, but honestly...why break the tradition?
I'll try to keep this as spoiler free as possibly, but I'll apologize in advance in case I spill anything note-worthy. Christian Bale is a decent actor, however I say this because he needs to tone down the Batman voice and keep being Bruce Wayne. I heard that the Batman voice returns in this movie, but I was thoroughly shocked to hear an even deeper and more raspy Batman voice at times. My theory for this is that John Connor cannot become winded, but only become more badass by deepening his voice and smoking a pack of cigarettes off-screen while he gets his ass handed to him by legions of robots. His performance was not note-worthy, but what did you expect?
Also, I made the mistake of confusing Michael Ironside with Jack Nicholson...again. I kept thinking," Where have I seen this old fart?" and came to the conclusion that I had seen him in The Departed, as they both shared a goattee. However, I recognized Ironside from...and I'm serious here...Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2. I feel like a fucking idiot for that, but who could blame Jack for trying to scrape up a few more bucks with a half-assed part?
I could go on and on about the actors, but these two were the only ones that I felt were notable (Helena Bonham Carter was so-so). The plot of this movie can be summed up in a sentence:
Kyle Reese, the badass from Terminator 1, is numero uno on Skynets shitlist, and John Connor has to save his teenage ass from termination. Simple, right? Right. Any Terminator fan knows that Reese is Connor's father, despite Reese being barely 17 in this movie, and Connor being well into his 20's. If only Reese knew that he had screwed the leader of the Resistance's mother, maybe things would've been different...
The plot was fine and all, but it ended up being more of a superhero esque movie, and the Resistance were a little too badass for me. The only scenes with beaten-up Fallout 3 style characters was very short-lived. However, I really liked how Reese's character reminded me of John Connor in Terminator 2. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it was really cool seeing the resemblance, even if Reese was a bit of a poor actor.
All in all, they couldve done a lot more with this film. The trend of the main action sequence being in a car lived on through this movie, and I felt like it barely compared with that of Terminator 3. Some of the effects were so clearly CGI that it was hard to watch, and Reese's little companion character was so fucking laughable. This little girl ALWAYS had just what they needed. There's a moment where they need to ignite this gasoline to blow up a Terminator, and the scene switches to the Terminator, and then it switches to the little girl holding a road flare, and I busted out laughing because of how absurd it was. Definitely not how I would've shot that scene, and it just seemed so poorly done and comical. I don't think the rest of the audience really paid any attention to it, though...
To sum up this review, this movie is borderline even with Terminator 3, despite having a few big-name actors. Nothing can really compare with Arnold Schwarzenegger (spelled that correctly the first try) being the star of the show, and the new-age digital effects couldn't live up to that. If you're a fan of the franchise, then I recommend you to go see it, but expect to be disappointed like I was. But this IS a fun movie, and I did enjoy watching it. There's not really anything else to say besides that.
This movie was directed by McG (what?), the same douchebag who brought you both of the Charlies Angels movies. I knew right away that this movie would feature zero nipple, but I was willing to make that sacrifice. I do, however, wish that they grew a pair and went with the R instead of the PG-13. I'm sure they're trying to compete with blockbusters such as Star Trek and Wolverine, but honestly...why break the tradition?
I'll try to keep this as spoiler free as possibly, but I'll apologize in advance in case I spill anything note-worthy. Christian Bale is a decent actor, however I say this because he needs to tone down the Batman voice and keep being Bruce Wayne. I heard that the Batman voice returns in this movie, but I was thoroughly shocked to hear an even deeper and more raspy Batman voice at times. My theory for this is that John Connor cannot become winded, but only become more badass by deepening his voice and smoking a pack of cigarettes off-screen while he gets his ass handed to him by legions of robots. His performance was not note-worthy, but what did you expect?
Also, I made the mistake of confusing Michael Ironside with Jack Nicholson...again. I kept thinking," Where have I seen this old fart?" and came to the conclusion that I had seen him in The Departed, as they both shared a goattee. However, I recognized Ironside from...and I'm serious here...Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2. I feel like a fucking idiot for that, but who could blame Jack for trying to scrape up a few more bucks with a half-assed part?
I could go on and on about the actors, but these two were the only ones that I felt were notable (Helena Bonham Carter was so-so). The plot of this movie can be summed up in a sentence:
Kyle Reese, the badass from Terminator 1, is numero uno on Skynets shitlist, and John Connor has to save his teenage ass from termination. Simple, right? Right. Any Terminator fan knows that Reese is Connor's father, despite Reese being barely 17 in this movie, and Connor being well into his 20's. If only Reese knew that he had screwed the leader of the Resistance's mother, maybe things would've been different...
The plot was fine and all, but it ended up being more of a superhero esque movie, and the Resistance were a little too badass for me. The only scenes with beaten-up Fallout 3 style characters was very short-lived. However, I really liked how Reese's character reminded me of John Connor in Terminator 2. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it was really cool seeing the resemblance, even if Reese was a bit of a poor actor.
All in all, they couldve done a lot more with this film. The trend of the main action sequence being in a car lived on through this movie, and I felt like it barely compared with that of Terminator 3. Some of the effects were so clearly CGI that it was hard to watch, and Reese's little companion character was so fucking laughable. This little girl ALWAYS had just what they needed. There's a moment where they need to ignite this gasoline to blow up a Terminator, and the scene switches to the Terminator, and then it switches to the little girl holding a road flare, and I busted out laughing because of how absurd it was. Definitely not how I would've shot that scene, and it just seemed so poorly done and comical. I don't think the rest of the audience really paid any attention to it, though...
To sum up this review, this movie is borderline even with Terminator 3, despite having a few big-name actors. Nothing can really compare with Arnold Schwarzenegger (spelled that correctly the first try) being the star of the show, and the new-age digital effects couldn't live up to that. If you're a fan of the franchise, then I recommend you to go see it, but expect to be disappointed like I was. But this IS a fun movie, and I did enjoy watching it. There's not really anything else to say besides that.
sounds like im going to wait for dvd then. $20 is too much for a movie that leave me wanting more.
ReplyDelete