Loudest. Movie. Ever.
I don’t know if it was our theater but since the trailers are usually the loudest part of a a typical theatrical visit, and they were tolerable, I’m guessing it was the film itself. Getting past the auditory issues, what about the film? Does it pass the big test of having a Terminator movie without Au-nold? Schwarznegger’s winking presence made the first three movies’ time-traveling cyborg mayhem someone comically relieved with his career-making catch phrases (“I’ll be back,” “Hasta la vista, baby”). With the star now trying to stay afloat in a economically near-terminal California statehouse, it falls to a new cast to perpetuate the franchise. The new blockbuster king, Christian Bale, shares top billing as dsytopian messiah John Connor with relative newcomer Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, a hunky newcomer to the humanity versus machines death match. Another busy young actor, Anton Yelchin (Chekov in the Star Trek reboot) plays Kyle Reese, whom Terminator fans will remember as the soldier John Connor sent back in time to protect Connor’s mother Sarah from the first terminator sent to prevent John’s birth, but who will, paradoxically father his own resistance leader when he falls in love with, ahhh, just go watch it and the sequels if you want to catch up.
The film itself plays out as the next episode in the series, rather than anything radically new and game changing, keeping the themes of human values and sacrifice against the cold, relentlessness of murderous machines. As such, it should satisfy most fans but I’m not sure how many new ones it will recruit. It has abundant action, stopping only long enough to keep needed information coming it so that the plot rolls on to its inevitably explosive and noisy finale. Obviously set up for more sequels, it’s a good, not great installment. The next chapter that may need some more real surprises to keep the audience coming back for more–with earplugs.
