io9 “speculates” that the cause of the Terminator Salvation flop isn’t necessarily the director’s fault, the writers fault or Christian Bale’s wooden performance.  It was President Obama’s fault*.  The above graph (click image to enlarge) shows the performance of past Terminator films in relation to the President in power at the time of release.

Coincidence? I’ll let you decide.

* In case Secret Service or President Obama himself stumble upon this: This claim may not be entirely true.

[Source: io9]

Terminator Salvation

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Directed By: McG

Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Michael Ironside, Helena Bonham Carter

Plot Synopsis:

Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale) is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind. [Warner Bros. Pictures]

Review:

Let me rant for a second.  McG is a stupid name for a director.  I don’t care if it’s your Frat Boy nickname or whatever.  If you want to be taken seriously as an artist, ditch the first name only names.  Let alone a name with no vowels.  The Rock changed his name back to Dwayne Johnson for movies.  Rappers-turned-actors are my pet peeve.  Whenever I see names like Common or 50 Cent appear in credits, I roll my eyes.  Now we have a McG film.  Dude, are you a rapper, a frat boy or a director?

Stupid names or not, Terminator Salvation delivers on action, great effects and sound, but is sorely lacking in a compelling lead performance or a compelling plot.  For the most part, this is a fun, brainless thrill ride with some fun action sequences.  It’s a good looking film and I don’t doubt all the money is on the screen.  Terminator Salvation looks great and sounds great on the big screen.  Just don’t prepare to get your mind blown.  While I don’t think it’s as bad as most critics are saying (and most are being extremely unfair), this isn’t the best movie of the summer.

The Good.

McG knows how to direct action and combines practical effects with CGI pretty impressively.  The post-apocalyptic world is stark and the digital re-creation of a post-nuclear Los Angeles is pretty stunning.  The action is thrilling and a lot of fun with explosions that are on par with any Michael Bay film.  I had a lot of fun with the Moto-Terminator chase sequence and the last act in the Skynet factory.

See Terminator Salvation in the theater at least to experience the visuals and the sound design.  Explosions rumble, bullets whiz by your head, the robots are threatening.  I loved how they gave the T-600s kind of a gutteral growl.  Also the plasma canon on The Harvestor is just plain cool sounding.  Loved it.

On the acting end, only 2 actors really stand out and save this movie.  Anton Yelchin as young Kyle Reese is captivating.  He’s totally channeling Michael Biehn‘s performance from the original Terminator and you believe every second of his performance.  With Star Trek under his belt and now Terminator Salvation, Anton Yelchin is a young talent to watch.  I know he’s now on my radar.

Also, Sam Worthington is great.  Although he occasionally slips into his Australian accent (how did the ADR folks miss that?!) he emotes convincingly and proves that he can out-act Christian Bale.  I’m looking forward to seeing him in James Cameron’s Avatar and also the remake of Clash of the Titans.

I need to mention Danny Elfman‘s score here.  People have given him a lot of crap for the score, but I think it’s great.  While nothing can touch Brad Feidel‘s scores for Terminator and Terminator 2, it’s not Danny Elfman’s usual sound.  This is a plus.  It’s a subdued score, that fits right into the story and doesn’t call attention to itself.

The Bad.

I really, really wanted to LOVE Terminator Salvation.  But, while I came out enjoying the ride, it just seemed like the screenwriters really missed an opportunity.  While the plot isn’t the weakest link of the film, it just seems lazily written.  It’s safe, sterile PG-13 action which feels like a Cliff Notes version of a bigger, more complex film.  Everything is spelled out, dialog is kept to a minimum and the main driving force of the plot is been-there-done-that.  I’m not sure how much was left on the cutting room floor when Warner Brothers decided on a PG-13 film after Watchmen tanked, but it feels like a Director’s Cut could remedy a bunch of problems.

For example, one minute Moon Bloodgood and Sam Worthington are getting ready to establish shelter from the rain and the next scene there’s no rain and 4 baddies are confronting Moon Bloodgood.  Also, I guess in the future it doesn’t take much to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco.  One character makes it there on FOOT.  For another character it’s a quick motorcycle ride.  I really hope there’s about 20 minutes missing from this film that will make up for the editing here.

Along with the simpleness of the script, it seems that all humor has been ejected from the series.  While they were intense Sci-Fi Actioners, the Terminator movies all had some sort of sense of humor.  Here, everything is dard and drab.  Hell, even Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List has moments of humor in them.  There is nothing for us an an audience to grab on to emotionally so we could invest in the characters in the story.

Finally, Christian Bale turns in the worst performance of his career here.  He’s one note, boring and talks in his low Batman voice for most of the movie.  I feel another actor could have done more here.  Actually, if Sam Worthington had been John Connor it would have been an entirely different film.  Maybe even a better film.  It’s a shame, because I am a total Christian Bale fan.  Here, though, he doesn’t emote at all.  He gives us no reason to care about him.

While filled with stellar effects, great sound design and score combined with thrilling action set pieces and a couple of really great performances, Terminator Salvation falls flat.  The PG-13 cut takes all gravity out of the story, but even with an R rating and the cuts put back in, I’m not sure how much better it will be.  As mindless spectacle, Terminator Salvation delivers.  It’s a billion times better than Wolverine and better than Terminator 3.

It’s a shame that such a technically well done film is undermined by it’s lead actor and the script.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and language.[See Full Rating]

McG.  McG. McG.  Seriously, just use your stupid real name.  I guarantee the negative reviews all begin with critics not taking someone named McG seriously.

I’m going to see Terminator: Salvation this weekend, with expectations lowered, but think it will still be a great time.  Look for my review next week.  Until then, here are the good and the bad for Terminator: Salvation:

The Bad:

T-4 might be mistaken by some as a Transformers sequel. Brandon Judell, CultureCatch

Technically, this is a well-made movie, but that doesn’t compensate for the predictability of the plotting, or the depressing lack of heart. Ian Berriman, SFX Magazine

The whole ordeal made me fantasize about building a time machine so I could send a cyborg into the past to terminate McG’s mother before she could give birth to him. Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures

The movie suffers from an inevitable tedium, which can best be summarized as: bang-bang-bang; pow, pow; fireball, fireball; ka-boom! Kurt Loder, MTV

Suffers from pedestrian dialogue and a surfeit of bad plot devices ranging from the merely too-convenient to the laugh-out-loud preposterous. Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com

Fuck this movie. Harry Knowles, [Ain't It Cool News]

The Good:

McG manages to create truly thrilling adventure set pieces filled with an old-fashioned sort of thrills. Devin Faraci, Chud

Despite some laughably silly plot elements, McG has created an overall entertaining movie experience. Patrick Parker, Premiere Magazine

The machines are mindless, yes, but there are enough pyrotechnics and heavy artillery to feel like Armageddon squared. And when the story starts to crumble around Bale, Worthington is there to pick up the pieces. Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

As long as McG keeps the action moving, the film remains on solid ground, matching and often surpassing the thoroughly adequate 2003 entry Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines. Keith Phipps, AV Club

Packed with two hours of non-stop action, it delivers everything you could want from a ‘Terminator’ film and more. Much more. Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com

There you have it.  Both sides.  I’m still looking forward to seeing it.  Critics seem to be way too harsh on Action flicks.  While they drooled over Star Trek and gave free passes to  some major plot holes, here they’re just slamming McG for creating an action movie with no “emotion.” I think if you want to see great visuals and want a fun ride, go see it.  If you’re looking for Children of Men go rent Children of Men.

P.S.  Harry Knowles review of Terminator Salvation is piece-of-crap-writing at it’s finest.

[Source: RottenTomatoes]

What if Michael Bay and McG got their man-love on and gave birth to a new movie? We’d have Transforminators!

Here’s a pretty genius mash up between the Transformers 2 Trailer and the Terminator: Salvation trailer.

[Source: Slashfilm]

Michael Mann‘s historical crime-drama Public Enemies gives us Johnny Depp as John Dillinger.  Mr. Mann, you had me at Depp.  But, wait! Christian Bale, too?

See the plot synopsis, posters and stills after the jump.

Public Enemies

9 Photos

Public Enemies: Marketing

4 Photos

Plot Synopsis:

In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard in the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp)—the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public.No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone—from his girlfriend Billie Frechette (Cotillard) to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.

But while the adventures of Dillinger’s gang—later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Alvin Karpis (Giovanni Ribisi)—thrilled many, Hoover (Billy Crudup) hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw’s capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America’s first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis, the dashing “Clark Gable of the FBI.’’ However, Dillinger and his gang outwitted and outgunned Purvis’ men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of Western ex-lawmen (newly baptized as agents) and orchestrating epic betrayals—from the infamous “Lady in Red’’ to the Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti—were Purvis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters able to close in on Dillinger.

Public Enemies hits theaters on July 1st 2009.

10 clips from Terminator: Salvation after the jump.  Things are looking pretty good, the clips do a good job of wetting our appetites, I’m really looking forward to the flick.

Kyle (Anton Yelchin) comes to the aid of Marcus (Sam Worthington).

Marcus (Sam Worthington) provides assistance to Blair (Moon Bloodgood).

John Connor (Christian Bale) and Kyle (Anton Yelchin) attempt to make an escape, though John volunteers to remain behind.

John Connor (Christian Bale) receives help from Marcus (Sam Worthington).

John Connor (Christian Bale) does an open broadcast, which Marcus (Sam Worthington) and Kyle (Anton Yelchin) pick up.

Blair (Moon Bloodgood) comes to the defense of Marcus Wright.

John Connor (Christian Bale) tells General Ashdown (Michael Ironside) that they must abort their assault.

General Ashdown (Michael Ironside) explains to John Connor (Christian Bale) that Skynet has a weakness.

Blair (Moon Bloodgood) gets confronted by other survivors.

Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) gets confronted by John Connor (Christian Bale).

View the full Terminator: Salvation gallery of all the pics I’ve collected over the web after the jump.  As more come in, this gallery will be updated.  Enjoy!

Terminator Salvation

76 Photos

Terminator: Salvation Marketing

5 Photos

Terminator: Salvation will be in theaters May 21, 2009.

[Sources: ComingSoon, CinemaBlend, io9, Firstshowing, SciFi Wire, GeekTyrant, Slashfilm]

Here’s an amazing still from Terminator: Salvation showing the post-apocolyptic L.A. skyline.  I’m hearing great pre-release buzz about the movie and early reviews are very positive.  It’s a great summer to be a geek!

See the new 4 minute trailer and some more new pics after the jump.  A new Terminator: Salvation gallery is available

Terminator: Salvation will be in theaters May 21, 2009.

Terminator: Salvation Gallery

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

[Sources: ComingSoon, CinemaBlend, io9, Firstshowing, SciFi Wire, GeekTyrant]

A cameo by the original Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger has finally been confirmed by Variety for McG’s Terminator: Salvation.   The amazing thing is, Schwarzenegger didn’t have to do a thing! All he did was show up and approve the footage shown to him by McG.

From a 25 year old body cast, the special effects team on Terminator: Salvation were able to create a fully CG character actor.  This will create continuity between the films and finally puts all the rumors and speculation to rest.

In other news, Terminator: Salvation won’t be rated R like ALL previous Terminator flicks.  Seems the only thing that was keeping the R rating were Moon Bloodgood‘s breasts and her nude scene has been cut from the film.  This is no big deal, as the intensity of PG-13 movies has increased.  Look at The Dark Knight and even Live Free or Die Hard.  Many geeks are up in arms, but seriously, breasts and “fucks” don’t necessarily make a movie great.  We’ll see if the story holds up opening weekend.

And for all you who want to see Moon Bloodgoods breasts and hear your fill of “fuck!” in a Terminator movie, I’m sure you’ll get your chance when the inevitable Unrated Blu-ray hits the shelves in 6 months.

[Source: Variety, Slashfilm, Wired]

Public Enemies keeps looking better and better! Here’s the second trailer for your viewing pleasure.

Plot Synopsis:

The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.