Plot
It is 2018, and Judgement Day has long passed. The war between the group known as The Resistance, and the machines run by Skynet is in full force.
John Connor discovers that he is number two on a hit list developed by Skynet, and number one on that list is Kyle Reece, the machines now knowing that Reece is going to go back in time and become John’s father.
Reece lives in the wastelands of LA, and finds himself paired with Marcus Wright – who has seemingly found himself in 2018 – having been executed by lethal injection way back in 2003… not before handing his body to the science of Cyberdyne Systems.
Now Connor must find Reece before Skynet take him out, and change history.
Direction
Directed by McG, it has a bleak wartime imagery of what you would believe the man v machine years long war would look and feel like.
There are some solid action set pieces, especially the gigantic machine’s attack on the survivors/Kyle kidnapped sequence.
Cast
Christian Bale plays John Connor, taking over the role from Nick Stahl. I genuinely liked what he brought to the table, he really sold the role for me.
Sam Worthington plays Marcus, he is sound as the mysterious stranger. I think one problem Worthington has is his struggle to keep his American accent constant throughout. At times his Australian accent snuck through a little too much.
The late Anton Yelchin plays Reece, and I really liked him in the role too. Very sad that he is no longer here to grow his talent, I am sure he would have done amazing things.
Other cast include; Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor (taking over the role from Claire Danes), Michael Ironside as General Ashdown, Common as Barnes (one of Connor’s right hand soldiers), Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams (who befriends Marcus), and Helena Bohnam Carter as Dr Serena Kogan, the person who assists Marcus (in his final moments and who he signs his body over to after his death in the film’s cold open).
Breakdown
Starting with a “pre Judgement Day” prologue, where prisoner on death row, Marcus Wright signs his body over to science to dying Dr Serena Kogan (who works for Cyberdyne – who would later accidentally cause Judgement Day).
In 2018, John Connor is now a major player (but not yet leader) of The Resistance, a group who fight the machines. An attack on Skynet, ‘releases’ Marcus – who has seemingly unaged since his execution 15 years earlier (first clue).
I genuinely liked Bale in the role, and even though this felt ‘similar’ to his other ‘action’ franchise that he was involved in around the same time, there was ‘just’ enough of a change to really buy him as John. ‘Technically’ it had been 15 years in this timeline for him to grow into the hardened war hero that he had become.
John is on the outs with Resistance, as they do not believe in The Prophecy that he will one day lead them. He is a loose cannon, making bold moves like boarding the super secret submarine headquarters unannounced and uninvited.
Instead he is tasked with a mission deep inside Skynet, that could potentially end the war once and for all. At the same time to stop the machines from ‘terminating’ him and those on a kill list (which his dear dad Kyle Reece is #1 on!). If Skynet kill Reece, this could reset the entire future (and Judgment Day could happen sooner?)
Just so happens that Marcus has found Kyle – who is just a elder teen in 2018 (and not yet paired with Connor). He becomes a mentor figure to Kyle, and begins to teach him fighting techniques, such as gun handling (and a neat trick with a shotgun he takes with him back to 1984).
There are a few good hints to Marcus’ identity (the film is almost 20 years old, so spoilers… are in my main pic…) being a machine (the other machines don’t recognise him, he doesn’t eat, he survives what no man should etc.).
I quite liked the pacing of film, and it made sense for situations to occur, in order for the narrative to progress (i.e. – Marcus and Blair meeting, which leads to the Marcus reveal – and John/Marcus teaming up to save Kyle (who they both need/want to save).
One down I did find throughout the proceedings was the lack of strong female characters. We have Bryce Dallas Howard taking over the role of Kathryn Brewster (now Connor), but she is severely underused, and Moon Bloodgood’s Blair only gets a little to do in the first half (including show her boobs, because movie has to movie?).
Marcus’ entire movie arc is really his redemption for his acts as a human, and I liked that he truly never became what Skynet wanted him to. Worthington is fairly decent in his portrayal, I just wish he could pull of one accent and stick with it.
Overall
I actually liked the direction that this film took, especially in regards to how John becomes the true leader of the Resistance, and his first meeting/finding Kyle Reece.
I thought Bale did a decent job, but it could be argued that he’s too close to his other franchise at the time. A weak performance (Worthington’s accent), underused (Howard), misogynistic (Bloodgood), and now poignant he’s gone (Yelchin), round up the talent. Still a recommend.
3.5/5
Please also check out my Podcast on Youtube, where we review a new movie every week! Please subscribe!
