Terminator Salvation
Since Friday, I've seen Terminator Salvation, actually slept in for once, and gotten fabric for the fairies. My weekend has been pretty awesome so far.
I get to sleep in tomorrow, too, so even more awesomeness will ensue.
I should start off by saying that as much as I was excited about this movie, I was really worried it was going to disappoint me. I LOVE T1 and T2, and when T3 came out...it just rubbed me the wrong way. I should probably rewatch it because someone recently corrected a false memory I had of the plot, but I still remember coming out of the theater with a bad taste in my mouth. So given how long it's been since we've had a good Terminator movie and the fact that this movie would both show the mythic time of John Connor leading the resistance and a young Kyle Reese, I was concerned in a very nerdy way.
Luckily, it didn't disappoint me! I am a very happy fangirl.
Now, I'm not saying it was perfect. There were some parts that were kind of silly, especially with Terminators acting rather dumb for machines. But overall I was pleased with the story as well as the continuity with the original series and even, as odd as it sounds, with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. T:TSCC is set in an alternate universe after T2, but I liked how well certain things lined up, just about the nature of the Terminators, and how they developed, etc. (Like the T-600s having fake-looking, rubbery skin, which is mentioned in both the first movie and T:TSCC.) I like when mythology is consistent, even across alternate universes.
Connecting with the original series...I know a lot of people groaned at the inclusion of "I'll be back" and "Come with me if you want to live", but come on. It's a Terminator movie. Those lines have always been and will always be included. My personal favorite throwback line was Marcus' "What day is it? What year?" to Kyle, echoing Kyle to Sarah in the first film.
Also, loved that Arnold agreed they could use his likeness. All the metal T-800s were cool, but it was even cooler to have that continuity of Arnold('s face) being in every movie.
Now, on to my biggest worry: Kyle Reese. If you haven't been able to figure it out, I have a pretty big crush on Kyle Reese. So when I heard that teenage Kyle was going to be played by Anton Yelchin, the actor who played nervous, nerdy young Chekov, I was a bit uncertain. The rational part of me knew that if he had any worth as an actor, he'd be able to play more than one role. The irrational side, who'd never seen him in anything else, wondered how this
was going to become this
Because that last one is hot. But Yelchin did a pretty good job! Since this is eleven years before Kyle is supposed to go back in time to protect Sarah (assuming that with all the timeline changes in subsequent movies, that date remains the same--McG said that it would, though), it wouldn't have made sense for Kyle to yet be the hardened soldier we're introduced to in the first film. He should still have some vulnerability and fear; he's just a teenage boy, and on top of that, he's alone. (OK, he's with Star, but how's a little girl going to help him, besides having an uncanny sense of knowing when Skynet is coming?) Even still, we see the makings of the future Kyle in Yelchin: he's intense and determined, and it's not as if he's entirely clueless when it comes to fighting. He's grown up in this war. He's good enough at handling his own for his age.
The one thing I really wanted was more John-Kyle interaction, which you don't get any of until the end of the film. Given that this is planned to be a trilogy, though, I'm assuming we'll get more of that in the next movie. I was glad they stuck to the original backstory of John and Kyle meeting when John saved Kyle from a Skynet prison (slight variations in the telling, but that's to be expected). I did love John's expression when he finally finds Kyle though...there was something both very warm and heartbreaking in it. (Again, to reference TSCC, it reminded me of when Derek took John to see some kids playing in the park on his birthday, and John realizes the youngest is a five-year-old Kyle.)
I was glad for the twist that Skynet planted the "disabling" signal, which could have made things potentially too easy for the heroes. (Although, really, it wouldn't have been that easy even if the signal really disabled Terminators; there's still a heck of a lot of robots they'd have to play it around.)
I did like the whole Hybrid thing with Marcus, and just his character in general. I was a bit disappointed that this picture of Serena Korgen ended up either being a red herring or not relevant until the next movie. Why put it out there if it's the latter? Now I have to wait a year or two for my blonde hybrid Terminator.
I'm a bit weirded out by the idea of John being a father, only if because a war's not the best time to be having kids, even if you need to repopulate. However, I doubt they have any method of birth control available...I was just picturing him in the next movie running around with a baby and getting only weird images, you know? I did like Kate Connor more in this movie than in T3, but I also have some odd bias against Claire Danes that even I don't understand.
...As for the ending, all I can say is I hope John Connor doesn't have to do anything too strenuous for a few months and that they have access to a whole lot of immunosuppressants...which, given that they don't seem to have access to a whole lot of anything, makes me think I'll have to suspend my disbelief. Oh, but wait. This is a franchise where they're fighting bipedal killer robots. Never mind. ♥
(Loved the HKs, too. ♥)
EDIT: OH SNAP I FORGOT. Congratulations to jinyo for getting a big lawyerly degree!
I get to sleep in tomorrow, too, so even more awesomeness will ensue.
I should start off by saying that as much as I was excited about this movie, I was really worried it was going to disappoint me. I LOVE T1 and T2, and when T3 came out...it just rubbed me the wrong way. I should probably rewatch it because someone recently corrected a false memory I had of the plot, but I still remember coming out of the theater with a bad taste in my mouth. So given how long it's been since we've had a good Terminator movie and the fact that this movie would both show the mythic time of John Connor leading the resistance and a young Kyle Reese, I was concerned in a very nerdy way.
Luckily, it didn't disappoint me! I am a very happy fangirl.
Now, I'm not saying it was perfect. There were some parts that were kind of silly, especially with Terminators acting rather dumb for machines. But overall I was pleased with the story as well as the continuity with the original series and even, as odd as it sounds, with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. T:TSCC is set in an alternate universe after T2, but I liked how well certain things lined up, just about the nature of the Terminators, and how they developed, etc. (Like the T-600s having fake-looking, rubbery skin, which is mentioned in both the first movie and T:TSCC.) I like when mythology is consistent, even across alternate universes.
Connecting with the original series...I know a lot of people groaned at the inclusion of "I'll be back" and "Come with me if you want to live", but come on. It's a Terminator movie. Those lines have always been and will always be included. My personal favorite throwback line was Marcus' "What day is it? What year?" to Kyle, echoing Kyle to Sarah in the first film.
Also, loved that Arnold agreed they could use his likeness. All the metal T-800s were cool, but it was even cooler to have that continuity of Arnold('s face) being in every movie.
Now, on to my biggest worry: Kyle Reese. If you haven't been able to figure it out, I have a pretty big crush on Kyle Reese. So when I heard that teenage Kyle was going to be played by Anton Yelchin, the actor who played nervous, nerdy young Chekov, I was a bit uncertain. The rational part of me knew that if he had any worth as an actor, he'd be able to play more than one role. The irrational side, who'd never seen him in anything else, wondered how this
was going to become this
Because that last one is hot. But Yelchin did a pretty good job! Since this is eleven years before Kyle is supposed to go back in time to protect Sarah (assuming that with all the timeline changes in subsequent movies, that date remains the same--McG said that it would, though), it wouldn't have made sense for Kyle to yet be the hardened soldier we're introduced to in the first film. He should still have some vulnerability and fear; he's just a teenage boy, and on top of that, he's alone. (OK, he's with Star, but how's a little girl going to help him, besides having an uncanny sense of knowing when Skynet is coming?) Even still, we see the makings of the future Kyle in Yelchin: he's intense and determined, and it's not as if he's entirely clueless when it comes to fighting. He's grown up in this war. He's good enough at handling his own for his age.
The one thing I really wanted was more John-Kyle interaction, which you don't get any of until the end of the film. Given that this is planned to be a trilogy, though, I'm assuming we'll get more of that in the next movie. I was glad they stuck to the original backstory of John and Kyle meeting when John saved Kyle from a Skynet prison (slight variations in the telling, but that's to be expected). I did love John's expression when he finally finds Kyle though...there was something both very warm and heartbreaking in it. (Again, to reference TSCC, it reminded me of when Derek took John to see some kids playing in the park on his birthday, and John realizes the youngest is a five-year-old Kyle.)
I was glad for the twist that Skynet planted the "disabling" signal, which could have made things potentially too easy for the heroes. (Although, really, it wouldn't have been that easy even if the signal really disabled Terminators; there's still a heck of a lot of robots they'd have to play it around.)
I did like the whole Hybrid thing with Marcus, and just his character in general. I was a bit disappointed that this picture of Serena Korgen ended up either being a red herring or not relevant until the next movie. Why put it out there if it's the latter? Now I have to wait a year or two for my blonde hybrid Terminator.
I'm a bit weirded out by the idea of John being a father, only if because a war's not the best time to be having kids, even if you need to repopulate. However, I doubt they have any method of birth control available...I was just picturing him in the next movie running around with a baby and getting only weird images, you know? I did like Kate Connor more in this movie than in T3, but I also have some odd bias against Claire Danes that even I don't understand.
...As for the ending, all I can say is I hope John Connor doesn't have to do anything too strenuous for a few months and that they have access to a whole lot of immunosuppressants...which, given that they don't seem to have access to a whole lot of anything, makes me think I'll have to suspend my disbelief. Oh, but wait. This is a franchise where they're fighting bipedal killer robots. Never mind. ♥
(Loved the HKs, too. ♥)
EDIT: OH SNAP I FORGOT. Congratulations to jinyo for getting a big lawyerly degree!