So, as promised, I have seen the new Terminator film and it was much better than I first anticipated.
Many people as they have left the theater I work at have told me that's it's not worth it and not as good as the first two. However, I enjoyed the film. While it was far from perfect, it was an interesting twist on the story that has already spawned four other films.
I think the only key issue with the film is not even found within theaters, but within the failure in advertising the film. If you watch the preview by clicking on the link below, you will see that John Conner is not who he once was and that the goal of the film is for Kyle and Sarah to stop him by any means necessary.
If the editor had made the decision to keep that bit of information out, I believe that the film would have had an added shock value to it. Going in, most people already know that John is no good, but fighting to protect Skynet.
Otherwise, I enjoyed Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney as Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese. While their chemistry was lacking, it wasn't one of those awkward pairings of actors that makes you wonder what the hell the casting directors were thinking. Arnold Schwarzenegger was also a delight to see. In several of his films that I have seen since he left the office of governor of California, I have felt that the man has been trying too hard in almost every last one. Many times, I have thought to myself, "Why doesn't he just retire?" However, in this particular film, I'm glad he hasn't. I grew fond of his character Pops. Plus he added a little humor here and there.
And speaking of humor, J.K. Simmons makes a lovely appearance in this film as an aged veteran cop that was saved by Sarah, Kyle and Pops in 1984. When they jump into the future to 2017, he helps relieve the tension with such lines as, "Damn time travelers! Always covering up their tracks."
To be honest, I think most people think that this film stinks because it doesn't make a lot of sense. With all the time travel, people try to bring logic into it. Making sense of dates and everything doesn't work with this film. Basically, you have to go back to the beginning and know that in this universe, only Terminator 1 and 2 exist. In addition, don't go in trying to understand why Kyle remembers certain things or why the time continuum works a certain way. In fact, personally, I like the way they lay it out. Time traveling doesn't exist and these film writers just had fun with it. It's almost reminiscent of the early sci-fi films. Things don't need to line up perfectly and make sense. It just has to keep you entertained. And the makers of the movie did a perfect job of sending you subtle reminders that this is a sci-fi/ action movie and you're there to enjoy. You're not there to analyze and predict and think hard.
I believe this film is fun and I can't wait until it comes out on DVD so I can watch it again with my family.
No comments:
Post a Comment