McG
Terminator Salvation

A metallic exoskeleton rises from burning wreckage. PERIOD! This is the nightmare that Mr. James Cameron had during a stay in a hotel in Rome in the 80s. A nightmare from which he drew a subject for a film... thus was born a B-movie with a visionary, apocalyptic, shocking (but also paradoxical) story that has influenced entire generations and brought revenue to Hollywood for over 25 years! The Terminator saga was born this way ... from a nightmare had on a Roman night!

The story of Terminator is one of the most fascinating in film history, Cameron managed to create a frightening universe, tackling burning issues that are close to us: nuclear weapons, rebellious machines, chaos, the end of everything... It's not the first time cinema has dealt with machines taking over humans (2001: A Space Odyssey is one of many examples), but no one before Terminator had told it with this apocalyptic realism and political vein (much like Ridley Scott reshaped sci-fi with "Alien" giving it that disarming realism never equaled again). The war in the future between humans and machines is the most fascinating element of the Terminator saga. In the first film we are revealed the first images of the war, in the second they are revisited with additional realism, also showing the nuclear catastrophe... in the third, we witness the attack of the machines and for a moment we see the future scenario more in detail... at this point, EVERYONE expected to see the chapter on this war!

"Terminator 4" is a film set in James Cameron's imaginative universe, and it is more or less what we all expected. Even though he is not Cameron, director McG unexpectedly managed to gift us that visionary and apocalyptic touch so dear to the creator of the story, presenting a well-thought-out subject in line with the previous episodes, without excessively slipping into gratuitous computer graphics spectacle. Forget the previous chapter of the flashy terminator that inflates her boobs in front of the cops and Swarzy wearing stripper glasses! Here they are getting serious again!

The film works, it does not look bad at all compared to the first chapters directed by Cameron, but unfortunately, the script has the same flaws as the second episode, namely scenes of pseudo-romanticism, the good robot and the ruthless robot, "even a robot can love," and all these goody-goody nonsense, (it must be said though that T2 remains one of the best genre films ever made). The main flaws are indeed some banal rhetoric and a not entirely fitting cast. The subplot of the robotized human with still a heart and soul feels like a TV series to me! John Connor, who should be the absolute protagonist, carves out almost marginal scenes, Denny Elfman's music is beautiful but does not send chills down the spine like the main theme of the previous chapters (here only hinted at, with a different mix). Beyond these marginal flaws, and especially compared to the third film, T4 works well. Some scenes aim to excite the nostalgic vein of fans, like a photo of Linda Hamilton, the character of Kyle Reese, a one-on-one final chase between Connor and Schwarzenegger!!! (here digitized but extremely faithful to the real one!). It's a shame that the governor of California soon finds himself with his robot exoskeleton... but I can't hide the excitement I felt in this scene. The fight between Connor and the T-800 is very quoted, reminiscent of the final chase between Hamilton and the Stop Motion animated metallic exoskeleton in 1984, and it gives a certain effect to see a similar fight in the future... with the son!

The action scenes never fall into the ridiculous, the choice to use filming techniques that simulate the first-person effect, with a shoulder camera (a "Cloverfield" effect) is excellent, especially for the spectacular opening scene with the helicopter crashing. Particular shots are used that drag the viewer to the center of the action, with targets coming from every direction, 360-degree camera movements, maybe a bit video-game like, but not ridiculous.

In this film, we see the Skynet headquarters, the feats of John's father from when he was young (with John having to protect him... creating the usual time paradox), we see the war in the future, who various assault troops are, and above all the political side of the story. A film that does not disappoint... even if the attempt to recreate Cameron style is halfway successful (or a little more...).

I expected worse... much worse!