Can 'Salvation' Terminate The Bad Taste Left by 'Rise Of The Machines'?

In 1984, a young, still mostly unknown Arnold Schwarzenegger got cast in a little Sci-Fi flick. Cast into a role that would have gone to OJ Simpson, except the studio thought him too nice. Thus he’d be unbelievable in a role as violent as this one would be.all This movie was written, and to be directed by James Cameron, a man who biggest previous credit was Piranha Part Two: The Spawning. It was a movie that would warn of our impending end. A final war to be fought Man vs. Machine, in a future where we’d become too dependent upon computers and lost the ability to control our own defenses. That movie was CARE BEARS: THE MOVIE. Wait, no, THE TERMINATOR.

THE TERMINATOR was a smash hit and unbelievably made ‘Schwarzenegger’ a house hold name. He was a near unstoppable killing machine. He couldn’t be bargained with. He couldn’t be reasoned with. He didn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And he absolutely would not stop chasing Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn though Los Angeles, killing every Sarah Connor that got in his way…well except for one.

 
In 1991 James Cameron, who by then had given us not only TERMINATOR but also ALIENS, returned and delivered one of the greatest sequels ever made. No, not CARE BEARS II:  A NEW GENERATION, but TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY.  T2 turned a good first TERMINATOR movie, into one of the greatest Sci-Fi franchises in creation. Then in 2003, everything changed. The franchise was tainted by a weak 3rd installment and is now about to either be restored or terminated for good.

May 21st I’ll be sitting in a theater, surrounded by my friends, watching what I hope is the film that renews credibility to the franchise. The aptly titled TERMINATOR: SALVATION will follow a third movie that was, at best, a disappointment. TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES was that movie.

 
Now before I completely rip T3, I’ll first say this. It was entertaining. I saw it 3 times when it came out and it was the best movie Arnold had done in quite a while.  I was jonesin’ at that time for a Terminator fix and T3 filled it. I also almost feel bad ripping it because I believe Arnold really did think it was going to be good. That is why he paid out of his own pocket to finish the big truck chase scene when the movie went over budget.

All that said, I made my girlfriend watch all 3 Terminator movies recently to prepare her for the upcoming Salvation. I truly do love the first 2 films, but re-watching T3 was near vomit inducing. Ex: The Terminator with the star-shaped stripper glasses. I hope that hammers home my point that this did not feel like it’s predecessors. It seemed like it was trying to be T2, and failing. This 3rd movie is just missing something.

First, let’s skip past things like Arnold looking too old to be a robot that doesn’t age. Or the improbability of Dr. Silverman being the only character to interact with all 3 T-800s. Let’s focus instead, not on something in the movie, but something not in the movie, Sarah.  Say what you want about Arnold being the star of the first 2 movies, but it was Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor character that became the driving force behind many of the events that made THE TERMINATOR and T2 the classics they are now. 

 
Along with Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor is a female action icon. But when James Cameron declined to do the 3rd movie, and Jonathan Mostow took the helm, Sarah was killed off. This event was the catalyst for the TV show: TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHROICLES. A show that jumps us over Sarah’s death, and the events of the third movie.  Judgment Day has again been delayed and we get to see John Connor become a man.

 
While I think the show is much better than the 3rd film, Salvation appears to follow the movie mythology, not that of the show.  So, now here we have it. It’s 2018 and John Connor and Kate Brewster have survived Judgment Day to help the human resistance. No more sending machines back in time or scenes where naked Arnold goes to male strip clubs. No more attempting to stop Skynet from being built or attempts to prevent the war all together. Now, the only mission, save the series from mediocrity.