Friday, May 29, 2009

Time paradoxes make good money

Nothing beats a good tale of self fulfiling prophecy- Kill mom in the past, fail, son lives to send his own protector. Repeat.

Throw in man killing machines and a plot regarding the epic struggles of humanities' last hope and you have an easily repeatable, infinitely rebootable hollywood movie series.

Not that I'm opposed to any of this mind you (provided that the story is good) but I do lament the insinuation of this assertion- that entertainment's best and brightest are unable to think of new ideas and original stories to tell.

Terminator Salvation was indeed an entertaining film perfunctory insertion of philosophical musing of 'what defines a human' notwithstanding. Like it's other summer blockbuster cousin- Star Trek, the director eskews story telling and character building elements for a cinematic creation filled with plenty of flash but void of bang.

Marcus Wright makes a compelling Terminator pregenesis but even as his sacrifice towards the end allows John Connor to continue the good fight, the viewers are robbed of the magnamity of the situation. There's no sense of emotional loss akin to the ending of Terminator 2 where this reviewer will admit to the shedding of tears as Arnold gets lowered into the vat of molten iron. Most amazingly, we connect with Arnold even if all he does is act monotonously. Marcus on the other hand is a heart and steel prototype with human perspectives and emotions yet there's hardly a reaction from the audience for his ultimate gift of life.

Yes Terminator Salvation will entertain you exceeding well. Is it a good movie? No. Ironically, even with a lead Terminator with heart, the film has none.

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