Terminator: Salvation Junkyard
Thursday, June 4, 2009
The original
Terminator film frightened me. It was scary. It gave me goosebumps, all because it was a low-key horror movie.
The sequels do not frighten, because they never pause to take a breath. The films rush through everything. There's nary a moment allowing the characters to contemplate how numbing, and terrifying, it would be to have an unstoppable, calculating and scheming killing machine pursuing them.
These follow-up movies are mildly engaging, generically amusing, and kinda
boring overall. It's all about explosions, gun fire, devastating and earth shattering wreckage, and blowing up buildings.
Yawn. I think they should leave a lot of these pyrotechnics for the video games. Yeah, people pay for the bombs. I get it.
All of the producers of the franchise films seem unaware of what made the first film so riveting (although it was not an absolute commercial success).
Here's a clue:
Arnold Schwarzenegger's character was an unrelenting, unemotional, and unsentimental
robot. He had only one task to perform.
That movie was as chilling and creepy as watching
Psycho.
I couldn't resist throwing the word 'junkyard' in the post heading. The desolate themes throughout the movie, reminded me of
Road Warrior (I must rent that, haven't seen that crazy classic in a long time!), and
Resident Evil: Extinction. The robots, especially the giant one that harvested humans reminded me of
War of the Worlds and
Star Wars: The Rotten Prequels.
Plot pivots: was it a
Superman or
Jesus Christ thingy going on? Oh, right. It was a hint at our possible immortality. So, that made Marcus Wright (I'm sure there's a meaning in that name, but I'm a bit dull right now in sorting it out) akin to a demi-god for this flick.
Marcus could have chosen to be immortal, as a cyborg, but what made him human was his
heart.
It's scary how fast the future (prosthetic body parts, rapidly healing, etc., etc.) is coming at us.
Did I mention that
Sam Worthington, who plays Marcus Wright is
hawt? Like really
smoking hot? This picture does his handsome mug no justice.
Delicious. Slurp.
Interesting how the best looking actors are coming out of New Zealand and Australia these days. Must be something in the air, food or water.
I must visit soon!Oh right, about the movie. I had to run out a few times, but the first hour is all about Marcus (
Sam), so that's the best thing I can say about the flick.
Christian Bale (John Connor) barks throughout the film. He's too damn stoic. The cuties in this film were:
Jadagrace and
Anton Yelchin (lucky kid, he was in Star Trek too).
Boy, is McG a lazy director or what? Did he
not notice these guys slipping back into their regional accents on occasion? I wont mention the enormous amount of inconsistencies in the film sequences. For example: in one scene Connor's shoe has been tossed far and wide, yet in the very next one, it's on again.
Worth seeing again? When it's on DVD, sure, but a repeat at the theater? Nope.
However, the special effects were awesome. The CGI was so realistic that I couldn't tell what was fake, and usually I could tell.
Overall, not bad, but not great either.
Labels: Anton Yelchin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Christian Bale, Jadagrace, Sam Worthington, Star Wars, Terminator, Terminator: Salvation
posted by GoldenAh
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For 2009 - If Only Hollywood Would Consider These Changes
Friday, January 2, 2009
- Keep all scenes dry: no more rain, please. I would like to see a film, especially if it is romantic, without people standing around in the rain. I don't care why - they add nothing to a scene. All it shows is a lack of imagination.
Often, I'll watch these programs thinking: they're going to catch a cold! And eww, smelly wet hair!
- No more kissing: it is disgusting to hear people smooch and lip smack. Let the viewers use their imagination. I don't want to see the filthy germ exchange.
I would ban kissing in films if I had the power.
- The minority sidekick to the white woman: it needs to stop. It's so lame. We all don't have an inner Oprah to tap to offer words of wisdom. Enough with the "sassy" minority woman who's gonna to take on the world to make things easy and accommodating for the "clueless" white chick (or man).
It happened with Kate Hudson in Raising Helen, I wanted to choke the director and scriptwriter(s).
- Whatever happened to black or minority sitcoms? I grew up watching shows with a black cast on television with my family. Now, all that's really available are re-runs on some cable networks. I think Lincoln Heights is the exception, but I still find the violence on the program excessive and disturbing.
I don't need to see these programs, Kyle XY is my favorite, but a little variety would be nice. Not everyone wants to watch a program about vapid, bleach blond twits from Beverly Hills.
- Is there a blond (any white) woman quota in Hollywood? One day I may do an actual head count. Off the top of my head, I can't think of one program on television, or movie, that doesn't have a white woman in it. She's included whether her character is integral to the plot or not. It's weird, sometimes they are brought on just because .... Some do nothing to advance the story line.
For example, Heroes can't let go of Ali Larter. Although, I do like her. There are many, many story lines with other characters that would have made the show coherent. So many have been left unresolved. But nooooooo, they keep her, regardless of whether it muddles the stupidity factor of the show by a factor of ten.
- Must there be a gun in nearly every film or TV show? Yes, some of us Americans are gun-totting nuts, but a good story doesn't need one either. How about just implying that people have one, and not show it?
Not everyone who watches media entertainment is a 14 year old teenager who requires violence to stay interested in a program.
- Please scale back the CGI effects. I can tell when it's used, and it still doesn't look convincing or interesting. People can't outrun a flood, rushing or rising waters. People can't survive a twenty-story waterfall in a ship, a car, or alone.
I won't even go into the impossible stunts that the human body cannot perform. You know, those scenes where people can survive a head-on car accident, without seat belts, at 30+ mph.
- Please, please, please make the actors audible. I know you enjoy loud music, and make most films for an international audience. However, I'd still like to pretend that dialogue is important to a movie. It'd be fun to know what's going on.
The incoherent mumbling and overly loud, overly dramatic music needs to stop.
- Make it illegal for George Lucas to release another Star Wars film. It's for the good of us all. He's made enough money. Star Wars is deeply entrenched into our modern culture. He can be proud, and not frightened by any thought that it will be forgotten.
George, you can go away now. Thanks.
I would include Star Trek, but I'm biased, so I'm ready for more of that sameness.
- Make accessible 24/7 every Hollywood film ever made.
- Every film made over the last 30 years old should be in the public domain. Congress and the Supreme Court needs to stop with this extra 100 year extension of copyrights every time it expires.
It's not right.
Labels: black women, Hollywood, internet, Kate Hudson, minorities, Star Trek, Star Wars, television
posted by GoldenAh
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