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DVD Corner: ‘Salvation’ is as good as predecessors
Mac Olsen
for Spotlight
Rated R by the MPAA: 1 hour, 54 minutes (theatrical version); 1 hour, 57 minutes (director’s cut): $26.95 for single-disc DVD edition and $28.95 for two-disc edition Blu-ray (reviewed) at www.columbiahousecanada.com
Although ‘Terminator Salvation’ has met with many criticisms, they are unfounded because the movie takes the franchise in a great new direction.
Directed by McG, the movie stars Christian Bale as John Connor and Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright.
The movie opens in 2003, with Marcus on death row in California. He’s encouraged to donate his body to science and is told it will lead to great things.
Fast forward to 2018 and Connor is part of a worldwide resistance trying to destroy Skynet and its Terminator army. Connor lands at a Skynet installation in the desert and looks for some information that could lead to a major break for the resistance. He finds it and then battles to get out before the installation is nuked.
Marcus wakes up in the installation and makes his way to the ruins of Los Angeles. There, he meets a very young Kyle Reece (Anton Yelchin), a pivotal character in the ‘Terminator’ lore, and they set out to find Connor after hearing his broadcast.
But during the journey, they encounter some badass humans and then a 50-foot Terminator. They no sooner escape these harrowing incidents, when they go up against a flying Terminator.
However, Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood), a pilot flying an A-10 “Warthog” ground attack fighter, shows up and does some damage. Nonetheless, Reece is imprisoned in the Terminator and it flies to Skynet’s Auschwitz-like base in San Francisco.
Williams crashes and meets Marcus, and they make their way to Connor’s base. But something happens to make Marcus cringe in horror. Connor is also horrified by Marcus, but he reluctantly decides to trust him. So, they go into the heart of the machine for a cataclysmic encounter.
There are many things to recommend, including Bale’s performance, as he has a forceful, commanding presence. Worthington also does well in his role as the character on which everything turns. He provides emotional depths throughout which make you feel sympathetic for him.
One criticism against ‘Salvation’ is that it’s nothing more than a CGI-infested movie, which is unjustified. What McG and his team are showing is the next evolution of the storyline. They authentically show the burned out hulks of cities like Los Angeles and the inner workings of Skynet, which were just hinted at with very limited special effects and models in the previous movies.
Also, while Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Terminator” character makes only a brief appearance – and a CGI-rendered character at that – this movie doesn’t feel empty without him. His character served its purpose in the previous movies and the focus must now be on John Connor fulfilling his destiny.
Overall, ‘Termination Salvation’ deserves 4½ stars out of five for great characters, action and setting up the next chapter in the storyline.
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