Terminator Salvation
It exceeded my very high expectations! If I had any reservations about it, it was that sequels are often done in very poor taste - Exhibit A: Terminator 3. Also, the fact that there's a Sarah Connors Chronicals TV show is discouraging viz the fate of the franchise. But my hopes dared to be raised when I saw the trailer (at Taken; also quite good), and truly it ended up being wonderful. I would watch that movie every day.
Okay, so it wasn't original enough to be Stunning, like in an award-winning kind of way. But I have a great soft spot for any post-apocalyptic setting, and perhaps what was most determinative of my jury: the execution was in perfect taste. Thrilling and suspenseful - I sincerely had to yelp and cover my eyes at some parts. Casting and characters were spot on. I liked how they used a lot of unknowns. I wonder if sometimes familiar actors bring too much baggage from their previous roles, so that we're incapable of seeing new movies as new movies. Of course, it's that very confusion that casting directors seek to exploit when shelling out 20 zillion dollars to get the Julia Robertses of the world to sign onto their movies...
But best of all, I loved the pathos and thought-experiment that makes the finest robot movies so fine: what becomes of our humanity if we take out the variables? Machinery is equivalent to perfection, and in robots we see ourselves mirrored as impassive, invulnerable things. And that brings us to the brink of the uncanny valley - it's so much scarier when the machines, almost gratuitously, look like human beings, when an automated censor-rigged-to-a-gun would have served the purpose just as well.
There were a few T2 references that were slightly comical, and still in good taste: "I'll be back," "You Could Be Mine," and... ARNOLD. Even with our state deficit and all, it was still nice to see his cameo. I know, I'm exactly the kind of sucker who makes democracy fail in practice. Incidentally, I voted pretty heartlessly this time around: I was in favor of cutting all the programs so that we can balance the budget. True, I generally feel stingy when it comes to education (bad investment to pour money into crayons and shit for a bunch of ingrate punks who don't even want to be there - instead, we should bring back child labor - no joke actually - I'm not proposing we send them into coal mines or sweat shops, but I think it would be a healthy alternative for kids to get jobs as soda jerks and paperboys and stuff if they really hate school - those are precious years of youth that could really help them jump start into something great (cf. Citizen Kane types)). But this time I felt truly uninformed. How was I supposed to know if it's better to skimp on the state mental health program, if I don't know what else is a candidate for cuts? That's exactly the kind of thing legislators should do, while they have all the information in front of them. These ballot initiatives are nothing more than exploitation of our emotions: of course no one wants to take money away from children, even if every single sector of public spending is taking a hit.
But I digress. I was going to add that there were only two things about T4 that bothered me: (1) the seemingly harmlessness of nuclear bombs, and (2) the overdramatic egotism of John Connor. You know that part in the trailer when he's screaming, "If we do X, we're all dead! We're all dead!"? Well, it turns out that's not exactly true: only John Connor would be dead. The resistance wants to destroy a base while civilian humans are being held captive, among them John Connor's future dad Kyle Reese. If Kyle dies before being sent back to 1984, John would never be born. And if John is never born, the resistance would have no leader. And if the resistance has no leader, THEN "we are all dead," in a manner of speaking. Yes, there are a few inferential steps within that impassioned cry. The last inference is especially dubious.
But besides those two things, which were minor irritations really, the movie was totally excellent.
Okay, so it wasn't original enough to be Stunning, like in an award-winning kind of way. But I have a great soft spot for any post-apocalyptic setting, and perhaps what was most determinative of my jury: the execution was in perfect taste. Thrilling and suspenseful - I sincerely had to yelp and cover my eyes at some parts. Casting and characters were spot on. I liked how they used a lot of unknowns. I wonder if sometimes familiar actors bring too much baggage from their previous roles, so that we're incapable of seeing new movies as new movies. Of course, it's that very confusion that casting directors seek to exploit when shelling out 20 zillion dollars to get the Julia Robertses of the world to sign onto their movies...
But best of all, I loved the pathos and thought-experiment that makes the finest robot movies so fine: what becomes of our humanity if we take out the variables? Machinery is equivalent to perfection, and in robots we see ourselves mirrored as impassive, invulnerable things. And that brings us to the brink of the uncanny valley - it's so much scarier when the machines, almost gratuitously, look like human beings, when an automated censor-rigged-to-a-gun would have served the purpose just as well.
There were a few T2 references that were slightly comical, and still in good taste: "I'll be back," "You Could Be Mine," and... ARNOLD. Even with our state deficit and all, it was still nice to see his cameo. I know, I'm exactly the kind of sucker who makes democracy fail in practice. Incidentally, I voted pretty heartlessly this time around: I was in favor of cutting all the programs so that we can balance the budget. True, I generally feel stingy when it comes to education (bad investment to pour money into crayons and shit for a bunch of ingrate punks who don't even want to be there - instead, we should bring back child labor - no joke actually - I'm not proposing we send them into coal mines or sweat shops, but I think it would be a healthy alternative for kids to get jobs as soda jerks and paperboys and stuff if they really hate school - those are precious years of youth that could really help them jump start into something great (cf. Citizen Kane types)). But this time I felt truly uninformed. How was I supposed to know if it's better to skimp on the state mental health program, if I don't know what else is a candidate for cuts? That's exactly the kind of thing legislators should do, while they have all the information in front of them. These ballot initiatives are nothing more than exploitation of our emotions: of course no one wants to take money away from children, even if every single sector of public spending is taking a hit.
But I digress. I was going to add that there were only two things about T4 that bothered me: (1) the seemingly harmlessness of nuclear bombs, and (2) the overdramatic egotism of John Connor. You know that part in the trailer when he's screaming, "If we do X, we're all dead! We're all dead!"? Well, it turns out that's not exactly true: only John Connor would be dead. The resistance wants to destroy a base while civilian humans are being held captive, among them John Connor's future dad Kyle Reese. If Kyle dies before being sent back to 1984, John would never be born. And if John is never born, the resistance would have no leader. And if the resistance has no leader, THEN "we are all dead," in a manner of speaking. Yes, there are a few inferential steps within that impassioned cry. The last inference is especially dubious.
But besides those two things, which were minor irritations really, the movie was totally excellent.
posted by Rex at 9:44 PM
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