The fourth Terminator film needs to find something new to keep the franchise alive after a generally lacklustre third outing.The trailers for the film have, I think, been rather good - showing a post-apocolyptic vision of a shattered World and certainly the imagary in the film is one of the strong points with effective use of CGI against some stunning, bleak backdrops. But, visuals alone do not make a film.
I want to like this film and, in some ways, I do. It's a massive departure from the previous Terminator films, perhaps not surprisingly given the setting, however this was a good choice since rehashing the old ideas again would just be a disappointment.
Where the film struggles is in stitching together the plot. The first act is generally incoherent - moody, interesting but hard to follow - the characters are only realised to a basic level and the focus is on action and visuals rather than dialogue but the basic seeds of the story are sown. The second act starts to bring some interesting twists and character pieces into play. Bale is mediocre - being given little to work with but it is Worthington who shines with a well considered, sometime subtle edge to his character. There are some more teriffic CGI sequences and some development of the story - it isn't a strong second act but brings more than the first.
Finally, in the third act, the film finds itself. This, alone, saves it from being a meaningless disaster and manages to present an enjoyable climax - with a few caveats. This deliberatly draws on previous Terminator films and gives the audience what they really want (I shall say no more).
Overall this is one of those films which is enjoyable enough, but not great. Bale's character needed to be more central, stronger and less conflicted to pull this off and it's only in the climax that we see this. Wothington is good and engaging throughout and Bonham Carter makes a good, effective, appearance. This isn't your traditional Terminator film but it has plenty of action, lots of great visuals, some good CGI and, if you can wade through the first two acts, a satisfying and enjoyable climax.
7/10
2 comments:
Hi Mate. This comment has nothing to do with your last post. I stumbled across Goron's blog the other day which kinda led me here. Anyway if you are who I think you are, it'd be great to get in touch. I'm a friend from school. Drop me an email sometime, you can find me at initial dot surname then @ucas.ac.uk . Read your last few posts re job and there are a few jobs going at my place at the mo (not sure if they're your thing or you're that desperate). If you are who I think, I'm sure you can guess who this is, either way all the best.
oh well :-{ It has been 15 years or so....No hard feelings, my regards anyway. Think I'll give this social networking lark a miss. Live long and prosper. Alan out.
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