Finally it has arrived: the long awaited fourth part of the Terminator-series, this time without Arnold Schwarzenegger, but with Christian Bale, who already made the film notorious during shooting, because of the leaked tape in which he goes on a several minute rant against a cameraman.
Plot (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
The movie begins with a prisoner on death row being asked to sign a form, donating his body for a mysterious research program, led by a bald Helena Bonham-Carter.
Then the real movie starts: It is the year 2018, Judgment Day happened and Skynet killed billions in its first attack. With lots of explosions a team led by Bale’s character John Connor infiltrates a Skynet research institute, where they find data about a new model terminator that’s being built: a model in which a robot inner skeleton is covered with biological material.
After a few minutes, Skynet springs its trap, and Connor is the only survivor of the mission; he is picked up and brought to the headquarters of the resistance, which is located in a submarine, where Connor’s superiors tell him about a new weapon against the machines: a signal they can use to order all machines to stop everything they are doing.
In another plotline a man called Marcus Wright (who is the convict seen in the intro) wakes up in a destroyed LA, where he is saved from termination by a young man named Kyle Reese and his assistant. The strange man seems to not know what has happened to the world, but does manage to fix Kyle’s radio, on which they hear a message from Connor. The trio decides to go find Connor, and join the true resistance. On the road to a resistance-base, they are spotted by Skynet, and chased by various robots. After a short chase (with more explosions) Kyle and his assistant are caught, and …? falls from a cliff. Somehow he manages to survive and meets up with a shot-down resistance-pilot. Together they resume the way to the resistance-base, but when Marcus is away to get firewood, the pilot is ambushed and almost raped by a group of surviving humans. Wright arrives just in time to save her, and he easily fights the four attackers.
The next day, the pilot and Marcus arrive at the base, but first they have to cross a magnetic minefield, which would be harmless to humans. When Wright tries to cross, a mine attaches to his leg, explodes and he loses consiousness. When he wakes up, he is tied up and being interrogated by Connor; it appears his body is a mixture of various human- and machine parts. Connor thinks this is a trap by Skynet, and orders Marucs killed. When the sentence is about to be fulfilled, the man is saved by the grateful pilot. Connor, however, figures out their plan, and pursuits the two across the base (with of course more explosions!). When Connor in his chase is ambushed by robots, he is saved by Wright, who tells him that Kyle (of who Connor figured out that he will be sent back in time later, and actually is Connor’s father) is caught by Skynet. He offers Connor to go find him, and help free all prisoners, before Connor’s superiors use their new weapon to bomb the whole base. Connor accepts, and lets him go.
At the Skynet facility Marcus manages to walk into the facility, sends his location to Connor, and connects with the main computer, who tells him that he was made for exactly this purpose: to infiltrate, and lure Connor into Skynet. The computer-system even spread the “weapon” to the resistance, and when resistance-command attemps to use it, a hunter-killer-robot zooms in on their location and destroys the submarine.
In the meantime Connor breaks in into the facility, and is busy freeing all the prisoners, when he meets Kyle, who is being attacked by a T-600 terminator. Together they dispatch the machine, but then they find out a prototype of the new T-800 terminator on their way (with animated Arnold Schwarzenegger-face!). This enemy is too much for them, and they are almost defeated when Wright intervenes. After a big fight, they manage to destroy the robot, but Connor is severely wounded in his chest.
In the aftermath, Marcus decides to give up his own life, so that Connor may have his heart and get a second chance as well. The movie ends with a monologue in which Connor explains how this one battle was won, but the war is far from over yet! (A.k.a.: Room for sequels)
SPOILERS OVER!
Let’s just say it out loud now: this movie is far from the genius that the first two Terminator movies had, even though it is better than the third part.
It does manage, however, to look great and give a proper post-apocalyptic atmosphere in the shots; destroyed Los Angeles, for example, really looks like a 15 year old ruin. Even though the movie has not got a great Terminator-story, it is a pretty decent action-movie to watch separately, without thinking of the previous movies. The acting ranges from not bad, to good (even though Bale is past his prime, and has not reached his former brilliance) and Elfman’s score underlines the visually beautiful fighting (explosions!) scenes pretty good.
This movie did not bore me for a second, and I can recommend it to fans of explosion-movies, or post-apocalypse movies, who do not care much for story or legacy.
