I’m going to start this by saying that I’m a fan of bug dumb action movies. I know that sometimes you just have to turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. Yet, even I have my limits. Terminator Salvation crossed the line from “mindless entertainment” and headed into “straight up dumb” territory.
That’s not to say that McG didn’t succeed in terms of some fun action. Stuff blew up, and it sure did look cool, but I have to believe that lying on some figurative editing room floor there is a version of this film where the plot and actions of the characters actually make some fucking sense. Take for example Moon Bloodgood’s character whose name I can’t fucking remember. Let’s say you’ve been fighting in an all out war against the machines. You know they want you dead. You know they can’t be trusted. Yet you seriously think it’s okay to lie to Common so you can release him because there’s absolutely no way he could be lying to you because he looks like a “man”?
I also know that when watching movies there’s this whole “suspension of disbelief” thing you have to do. But do not tell me that it’s safe and possible to detonate what are essentially a bunch of nuclear bombs that wipe out an entire Sky Net facility while you’re in some goddam helicopter right fucking next to it. If those visions from T2 taught me anything, that is not how fucking nuclear bombs work. Also, you shoot the Terminators in the head! Everyone knows that!
Another thing I normally don’t mind is when a movie, even a big dumb action movie, tries to have some sort of moral or message. What I do have a problem with is when they repeatedly smack you in the face with it. The question of what makes humans different from the machines is one that comes up over and over again in sci-fi, and now we don’t need to wonder anymore. It’s our heart. Literally. See, Marcus has a heart, and that’s why he turns his back on Bellatrix Lestrange and goes to save John Connor. That’s why when we see through the eyes of the terminator trying to kill him his “vulnerability” is his heart. He is killed by a punch to his heart. He is revived by a shock to his heart. John Connor almost dies because he is stabbed through his heart. Then (in an ending that felt ripped straight from a Michael Bay film) in a totally sterile desert operating room, Marcus give John his heart so that He, John Connor, the HEART of the Human resistance, can continue to live. GET IT? DID YOU GET IT YET?
B+ for the action, F- for the plot and for making no fucking sense.
Also, while watching, a fun game to play is trying to guess at what exact moment Christian Bale lost his shit. Honestly, I think that was my favourite part.
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