Out of Frame: Terminator Salvation

That kind of fresh thinking is what this movie needed, but in no respect does it ever get it. It didn't have to be this way. The producers had at their disposal screenwriters like Jonathan Nolan — who helped his brother Chris reinvent comic-book cinema in The Dark Knight — and Paul Haggis, whose maudlin, hand-wringing liberal guilt can be annoying, but at least he generally knows how to write a movie that makes sense. Unfortunately, there are a grand total of seven writers reported to have worked on this script, and it feels like a movie written in pieces with little thought given to connecting the dots. The lapses in logic are insulting even for a mindless summer blockbuster. Why, for instance, do computers that know Kyle Reese is John Connor's father never kill him when they have the chance (and they have many chances)? Why are the machines capable of honing in on and investigating a car stereo blasting Alice in Chains in the middle of nowhere within two minutes, yet seem somehow oblivious to a large, above-ground military installation, complete with all manner of vehicles and noisy aircraft? Why is a seventh-months-pregnant woman being sent into a combat zone? The list of nonsensical plot points just drones on and on.

Not even Bale's presence can improve the proceedings, not that it seems he made much effort. Easily one of the worst performances of his career, he does a lot of scowling and looks pained a lot, but Edward Furlong's take on the character had far more emotional heft. Maybe it's just that there were cinematographers constantly walking through his line of vision, but he mostly seems disinterested, except during a few overwrought inspirational radio broadcast monologues that practically scream, "Oscar Clip!". As for his co-star, Sam Worthington, he has a great presence as the mysterious time-traveler, but the Australian actor can never seem to decide whether his character is supposed to be from New York or Sydney. The only actor to deliver a solid performance is Anton Yelchin as Reese, who sadly receives third-billing here when he should really be the star.

Granted, director McG didn't get hired for his rapport with actors. He got hired because he knows how to bring the action, and does he ever. There's none of the claustrophobic, close-up, machine-gun edited footage that seems so popular despite being more confusing than thrilling. McG's action sequences are fluid and exciting set pieces; he even manages to one-up Cameron's motorcycle/truck chase from T2. With another truck and two motorcycles this time! Robot motorcycles that spring from the leg of a larger robot! It's almost like watching a Transformers 2 preview! Jokes aside, it's a great chase, but the fact that he even bothers with such a retread is telling: he spends far too much time ripping off scenes from the previous films and trying to do them better. Sometimes it's cute, such as having Christian Bale deliver the iconic "I'll be back" line, or having him play Guns 'n' Roses through an ancient boom box to lure the bad guys to him. But did we really need another T2-esque climactic scene that takes place in an industrial factory setting with molten metal conveniently available as a weapon? The endless homages start falling flat early on, when the film gives a completely incongruous shout-out to Top Gun, with Michael Ironside reprising, in spirit, his character from that film, while Bale becomes an unlikely stand-in for Maverick.

McG demonstrates a complete inability to understand what made the early Cameron films so good. It wasn't about the thrill ride; if that was all it was, he'd have nailed it. Cameron took a science fiction premise and placed it in a recognizable and plausible world, and gave us a tough-as-nails female hero at the center of it all. Sure, these were stories about time-traveling cyborgs, but once you'd gotten past that, the suspension of disbelief necessary was minimal. McG treats suspension of disbelief like a narrative Get Out of Jail Free card, never realizing that he has to earn it. Meanwhile, his idea of a strong female character is a fighter pilot who goes all starry-eyed the moment a man steps in to give her the rescue she so desperately needs. And we, the audience, are left with nothing as we head to the parking lot but the overwhelming sense that we need a reboot of this reboot.

Terminator Salvation opens at theaters across the area today. Some of you may have even been unfortunate enough to stay up late for a midnight screening last night.