I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the critics for panning Terminator Salvation. I'm being serious. I went in to the film with lowered expectations, and as a result...I absolutely loved it.
On Rotten Tomatoes, TS has only a 35% rating at the time of this post. Nearly all the reviews I've read, including Ebert's, have slammed this movie, or worst, damned it with faint praise.
The story is not without its hiccups, but on the whole, it's a well-produced, well-filmed, action-filled joy ride from start to finish. Sam Worthington steals the show as Marcus Wright, and I never thought I'd say this, but Anton Yelchin is excellent as Kyle Reese. The not-so-invisible hand of Christian Bale unfortunately left a few marks on the script, but it's a better movie with Bale-man in it than not in it.
I'm not going to ruin the movie for you, but I will say this: the critics universally called this one wrong. It's a good movie, borderline great, and has an intelligent plot with zero fat on it. There are some nice turns, especially the dramatic reversal that occurs during the climax of the film. If you're a Terminator fan, you owe it to yourself to see this movie.
5 years ago
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Well, this isn't exactly my genre, but I have had the experience of seeing a movie where it works completely and I get everything that's being done and it seems to have bypassed all the critics completely. And it's not that I don't like critics--Roger Ebert is one of my faves. But of course no one's going to get it right all the time, and sometimes you do actually have to be in the right place to resonate to something. "Is Anybody There?" is turning out to be a quiet little hit in Santa Cruz, completely drowned out by Star Trek and Wolverine, etc, of course. But it makes me happy to see that it hasn't left the theatres yet. The critics aren't crazy about it, but I do have to say that Ebert nailed it on this one.
Sorry--take it back to the topic at hand, someone.
Seana,
That looks like a good movie. Speaking of Ebert, I like his approach to rating movies, if not the ultimate ratings themselves (from wiki):
"When you ask a friend if Hellboy is any good, you're not asking if it's any good compared to Mystic River, you're asking if it's any good compared to The Punisher. And my answer would be, on a scale of one to four, if Superman is four, then Hellboy is three and The Punisher is two. In the same way, if American Beauty gets four stars, then The United States of Leland clocks in at about two."
I have to admit the bad press for TS played a part in my not having seen the movie yet. I adored Terminator 1 and 2; 3 not so much. On the other hand, Christian Bale probably fits the John Connor role nicely. My concern was the plot. But as you enjoyed the plotline, I may just move TS up on my watch list.
Last night I rewatched Lost Souls, a creepy little movie that I enjoyed even more the second time around.
Am also looking forward to the release of Possession later this year:
Oops, meant to post the link to the trailer for Possession: It's hereRita
Rita,
Lost Souls has a good cast but a bad rating on IMDb. But based on your recommendation, I'll have to put it in the Netflix queue. I'll have to check out the youtube link for Possession when I get home tonight.
As for TS, people are all over the map about it, but I think the critics have been way too harsh.
I hadn't heard about Ebert's approach, but it sounds right on the money.
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