Jurassic World

So 22 years have passed since the original Jurassic Park was released back in 1993. Glowing reviews, ridiculous box office, an instant fan favorite and classic, it is a great movie that was fresh and innovative and creative and smart and funny. Now I love a good movie franchise, but this particular one had two okay but definitely not great sequels, The Lost World and Jurassic Park III. For years though, another sequel had been in the works that was supposed to get back to basics, and now we get it. Here's 2015's Jurassic World.

For many years now, InGen has its dinosaur theme park -- Jurassic World -- up and running on Isla Sorna much to the delight of visitors from all over the world. The InGen and park staff though is constantly trying to do bigger and better, to amaze visitors who put down a pretty penny to come and visit the park. Now though, InGen may have gone too far. With the island packed with visitors, the park's operation manager, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), is readying for a visit from her nephews who she hasn't seen in years. That reunion is about to be thrown into chaos though when InGen's and Jurassic World's new genetically-engineered dinosaur goes on the rampage. No one on the island is safe with the park's trainer and quasi-dinosaur expert/specialist, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), one of the few hopes of getting things back under control. Is it too late though? Has mankind gone too far in creating something that simply shouldn't have been created? Let the body count blow up in the meantime!

Yeah, 22 freaking years since Jurassic Park originally hit theaters. I was eight years old! It's an interesting franchise because maybe more than most film turned franchise, 'JP' is a pretty perfect stand-alone movie. It genuinely doesn't need a single sequel, much less three. Still, all three are entertaining, and this most recent venture is genuinely good in that perfect summer blockbuster fashion. From director Colin Trevorrow, 'World' isn't a straight remake of the original, but it's almost the same movie. That's not a bad thing. It is pretty dumb with some questions popping up here and there, but it kept me entertained throughout its 124-minute running time. The 2015 film year is shaping up to be a doozy, and this is a big reason why. Grab some popcorn and sit back and enjoy!

The formula is pretty simple, and those who saw the original or read Michael Crichton's novel know what's coming. Introduce a bunch of people, slightly humanize them, build up unbearable tension about dinosaurs that couldn't possibly escape, let those dinosaurs escape and let the carnage loose! Pretty straightforward, ain't it? I'll delve into the cast in a bit, but the coolest addition to the franchise is indominus rex, a new genetically engineered dinosaur that's mostly tyrannosaurus rex but with some DNA from this animal and more DNA from that animal (Twists as to what are actually pretty good). This is one cool dinosaur, or quasi-dinosaur I guess. It is a killing machine, able to detect thermal signatures while also masking its own. Oh, also, it kills for sport more than for eating so there's that! 'World' doesn't take too long getting this genetically-mutated killer out and about, and the movie's at its strongest when dealing with its newest, most bad-ass character.

Now that's not to say that Chris Pratt's Owen Grady isn't a cool character. He is. Pratt is one of the biggest rising stars in Hollywood right now, and he's clearly having some fun here. Part Dr. Grant, part Ian Malcolm, Pratt's Owen trains the velociraptors or as much as one can train raptors (one of nature's all-time deadliest creations). He is the necessary very cool lead character who must lead the way to survival, being a bad-ass at every opportunity. Case in point? He leads his semi-trained raptors in a hunt....while he's riding a motorcycle. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Howard is the all-business, no-nonsense park operations manager, spending the whole movie in high heels and seemingly always on the run. Give them credit though, through all the chaos I thought Pratt and Howard had some pretty good chemistry.

The rest of the characters are pretty cut and dry. Not too much development, just get to know enough about them to decide if they'll be eaten or not. Irrfan Khan plays the ridiculously rich owner of the park, Vincent D'Onofrio is the InGen security head obsessed with turning the raptors into weapons used in combat, Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson as two brothers visiting the island (Claire's nephews), Jake Johnson (an excellent, funny, scene-stealing part) and Lauren Lapkus as operations room employees who see everything blowing up, Omar Sy as Barry, Owen's right-hand man and fellow dinosaur wrangler, Judy Greer as the boys' worrying mom back home, and returning from the original Jurassic Park, BD Wong as Henry Wu, the genetic engineering genius who created the new and improved dinosaurs.

I did have issues with this flick. None of those issues derailed my enjoyment, but I would have liked some answers. Other than a few clever wink-wink moments, nothing is really mentioned of how the disaster that happened on Isla Nubar in Jurassic Park...well, did nothing. Jurassic World seemingly opened up a few years later with a ton of financial backing, and yeah, nothing happened about all those deaths. I didn't need anything spelled out word-for-word, but I would have liked some explanation. Also, the attempt to humanize the dinosaurs -- especially the raptors -- sounds cool and it does work in doses, but I felt like the script hit the audience over the head with the premise more and more in the second half. Meh, not a huge deal. Oh, look, Chris Pratt is on a throwback motorcycle leading raptors on a hunt!!! Cooooooooooool.

Most criticisms here are going to go belly up. Yeah, I had complaints. Yeah, I groaned a couple times because characters are too stupid for their own good. But this is what a summer blockbuster should be. A ton of fun, a ton of excitement, and some good, old-fashioned dinosaur action. Fans of the original will appreciate some nods in that direction, and also and more importantly, putting the T-Rex back into the hierarchy it deserves, something Jurassic Park III tried to dismantle. Not a classic, but well worth a watch for an action-packed, genuinely fun two hours.

Jurassic World (2015): ***/****

The Village

What is director-writer-producer M. Night Shyamalan associated with? The twist ending. The BIG twist ending. From The Sixth Sense to Signs, Unbreakable to The Happening, Shyamalan has made a career out of that pull the rug out from under you feeling. I've seen most of them, and now I can check off 2004's The Village, another Shyamalan vehicle with a twist in the end.

In a small, isolated village in the Pennsylvania countryside in the late 1890s, life goes on pretty much as normal on a day-to-day basis. Well....pretty much. The close-knit community is isolated from the rest of the world, all the townspeople unable to leave a perimeter surrounding the village. Why? The town has a delicate truce with something living in the woods, creatures dubbed "Those We Don't Speak Of." One of the townspeople, Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix), a young man, is sure the creatures will let them pass if approached in non-aggressive fashion. He is close to Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard), a young woman who lost her vision as a child, who also believes Lucius' plan. It is a pleasant if limited life, but Lucius wants to explore, to question. Can he convince the village elders to give him the chance? Will Those We Don't Speak Of stop him before he can do anything?

Here we sit. Though his films have struggled some at the box office and especially critically, Shyamalan is a talented director. He is. He has few rivals when it comes to building tension, to setting the mood, creating that unbearable sense of doom looming just over the horizon. What's coming next? What's gonna happen?!? Sometimes though, it feels like the films get so wrapped up in building up to the twist that the movie suffers. The focus becomes all about that twist. 'Village' suffers from that issue to a point. At different points, there is A TON of potential that seems to be building to something really crazy, interesting and entertaining. The gloomy setting -- it's seemingly always cloudy -- sets the mood in ideal fashion, and composer James Newton Howard picked up an Oscar nomination for his haunting, eerily beautiful score. So where does it go....

Semi-SPOILERS for this paragraph. I won't give anything specific away, but I've got to at least address it. There's actually two different reveals, one revealed about the hour-mark of the 109-minute movie, the other popping up about the 90-minute checkpoint. They're not bad. The big twist doesn't feel so forced, so out of left field that you question why the script (Shyamalan doing the honors) even went there. It's original. It's unique. It's just not necessarily....well, good. There are some hints dropped along the way, but it did catch me by surprise. If there is a goof, it's in the reveal of the first twist. It comes along too early, taking away from a later scene that would have been dripping with tension and terror if we didn't know what we do (if that makes sense). The biggest issue is that the ending feels rushed without letting things breathe a little bit. Too bad because as far as twists go, this one could have been a doozy of a gem.

Now with the mood, the tension, the mystery, the cast and characters do a good job with a story/script where the focus isn't specifically on them. They're a means to an end. Phoenix does a good job as the moody, questioning Lucius (quite a stretch, huh?) while Howard especially shines as Ivy, the blind young woman who is a favorite in the village because of her generally pleasant outlook on everything. As for the town elders, look for William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson and Cherry Jones.  For some of the other townspeople, keep an eye out for Judy Greer, Michael Pitt, Jesse Eisenberg, and Adrien Brody as Noah, the mentally challenged adult who never grew up. Some very good actors committing to generally unwritten parts and doing their best to bring it to life.

There's something missing in general here. The build-up is there, that tension and fear of the unknown palpable through much of the first hour. From there on in though, the story loses momentum with a focus on the village and the people. I wanted to like it more. I wish I had liked it more, but it's not bad, just not as good as it could have been unfortunately. A disappointing semi-misfire.

The Village (2004): ** 1/2 /****

The Help

By no means did I avoid 2011's The Help, but I never actively sought it out either. A success at the box office and during awards season, I just wasn't dying to see it regardless of all the positive reviews. I'm stubborn that way apparently. So here we sit, a year later, and I caught up with it. Definitely worth the wait, and another lesson I shouldn't be so stubborn when it comes to movies.

Having just gotten her college degree, Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) heads home to Jackson, Mississippi hoping to get a job writing for a local newspaper. She gets that job, ghostwriting a column about cleaning advice. Skeeter seeks the help of Aibileen (Viola Davis), a maid who works for one of the richer, well-to-do families in town. Having grown up in Jackson, Skeeter has seen the inner workings of the town; white families served hand and foot by their African-American servants with no regard for feelings. Talking to Aibileen, Skeeter thinks it would be a great idea to write a book written from the perspective of "the help." Aibileen and her friend and fellow maid, Minny (Octavia Spencer), agree, but they're scared to death of the possible consequences.

From director Tate Taylor, this is an interesting movie to watch, digest and review. While it is a highly enjoyable film to watch, it is also intensely uncomfortable to watch because of.....well, it's honesty. Set in early 1960s Mississippi, the focus is clearly on the racism and segregation that ran rampant in the South and around much of the U.S. for years (and still does in different ways). It is a difficult movie to watch, difficult to comprehend people treat others like this. The help are treated like dirt with some believing they carry "different diseases" to the point their own bathrooms are built in garages.

Credit to Taylor and his crew though for making the movie. Set just 50 years ago from the present, it feels like we're traveling as viewers in a time machine. You watch this movie and feel like you've been transported to 1960s Jackson. Everything from the wardrobe to the sets to the big boats of cars gives 'Help' an air of authenticity. We see people smoking anywhere and everywhere, we see the violence that erupts from the developing Civil Rights movement, and the way the maids and help are treated like second-class citizens. I especially liked Thomas Newman's score as well, an underplayed score that moves the story along nicely.

By far though, the best thing going for Taylor's film is the cast. It's a deep cast. Very deep. Up until this point in her career, Emma Stone had done mostly comedic work, even some light drama. In a major starring role, Stone doesn't disappoint. It isn't a performance that requires her to carry the movie, but that's the beauty of such a strong ensemble. She develops quite the interesting character, and one that ends up being a means to an end to introduce the deeper, more dramatic parts. Also look for Allison Janney as Skeeter's mother, Charlotte, Ahna O'Reilly as Elizabeth, a young married woman who has Aibileen as a maid, Sissy Spacek as an aging Southern belle and the mother of another character (more on Hilly later), and Cicely Tyson as Constantine, the Phelan's maid who was a key figure in Skeeter's childhood.

 All those performances are solid, but four other performances end up being what many viewers took away from the film. Octavia Spencer won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her part as Minny, the fiery, opinionated maid who ends up butting heads with Bryce Dallas Howard's Hilly, the -- pardon my language -- Queen Bitch in Jackson. Spencer is the showier part while Viola Davis gets the more understated and underplayed part that provides the perfect counter to Spencer's Minny. It is an epically appropriate duo, two genuine friends who have also bonded through their similar trials. Davis was also nominated for an Oscar but lost to Meryl Streep from The Iron Lady. Her motherly relationship with Elizabeth's daughter is the crux of the movie. Howard is a despicably unlikable villain in a great performance. The third nominated part goes to Jessica Chastain as Celia, an outsider in Jackson because Hilly hates her. Her relationship with Spencer's Minny ends up being a key part of the movie, a highly effective emotional relationship. Four great performances though.

If there is a complaint I had, it's that at 146 minutes, 'Help' is a tad on the long side. It's never boring and always interesting to watch, but in certain parts of the second half it felt like I had been watching the movie for quite a long time. The ending makes up for any draggy portions with a kick right in the crotch in the emotion department. It's a heartbreakingly real ending, one that while appropriate is depressing nonetheless. A very good movie overall that deserves all the kudos and accolades it's earned. Glad I caught up with it.

The Help (2011): ***/****

50/50

I call it Garden State Syndrome, a little known disease that afflicts certain movies. You know the type. Small-scale, well-written, ultra-personal stories with emo drama and dark comedy of people in their mid 20s adjusting to life and all its little intricacies. Oh, don't forget the indie rock soundtracks. It started with 2004's Garden State, by all means a really good movie but not the end-all, be-all classic some made it out to be. When I saw the preview for 2011's 50/50, that was my first thought. Uh-oh, here we go again, even despite my interest/curiosity. So where did it fall?

A 27-year old living in Seattle, Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has a pretty cool little life for himself. He has a good job at a Seattle public radio station, lives with his girlfriend, Rachael (Bryce Dallas-Howard), and still gets to hang out with his longtime friend, Kyle (Seth Rogen). Experiencing some back pain though, Adam visits a doctor and gets some startling news. He has a malignant tumor on his back, and his chances are about 50-50 that he'll survive it. His world thrown on its side, Adam tries to fight through his new huge problem, going to a psychiatrist while undergoing chemotherapy. The thought lingers though. No matter what he does or doesn't do, it might not make a difference. He could still die, and he can't control it in the least.

From director Jonathan Levine, '50' avoids most of the trappings of the always dangerous Garden State Syndrome. Yes, there's the indie rock soundtrack (I get it....you're unique), but the overbearing message of how life is so tough to get through isn't an issue at all. Sure, a healthy, normal 27-year old gets a curveball thrown his way, but it never becomes condescending. Adam struggles with his situation -- who wouldn't? -- but '50' never tries to shove sympathy/apathy/emotion in general down your throat. The movie ends up being a huge success because it just does the opposite. It shows the situation as it is -- Adam struggling to adjust, his friends and family trying to help and cope however they can -- without aggressively telling you how to feel about the movie and the developing story.

Like other indie dramadies (that's comedy meets drama) that works so well, '50' does have its moments of brilliance. It goes back to the personal level Levine tells his story from. The humor is of the dark variety, never any obvious laughs which come from the real interactions -- both positive and negative -- between people who care for and love each other. Adam shaving his hair before chemo can do it before him with Kyle's....body hair trimmer?....is an inspired scene, Rogen making that scene with his most likely very natural reaction. Adam's scenes with his fellow chemo patients (Matt Frewer and Philip Baker Hall) are both funny and emotionally tough to watch, three very different individuals bonding through their similar struggle. The most effective is Adam telling his mom, Diane (Anjelica Houston), he has his cancer, a mother acting about how you'd expect. These moments don't feel forced or faked. They end up feeling very real, and the movie's that much better for it.

It seems like a long time since Joseph Gordon-Levitt was a co-star on 90s sitcom Third Rock from the Sun, but here we sit. Gordon-Levitt is fast becoming one of the most talented young actors in Hollywood, and the man's got some versatility. Big blockbuster? Inception. Thriller? The Lookout. Personal drama? Here we are. He's very natural in his characters, and seeing his transformation here as he deals with the different emotional levels of trying to survive cancer can be difficult to watch at times. It certainly helps that we see his friendship with high school buddy, Kyle, played by Rogen. That genuine relationship was what I took away from this movie. They talk, argue, debate and BS each other like long-time friends would. Understandably stunned at his friend's news, Kyle tries to help him out however he can. I loved the dynamic these two had, especially as Adam gets further and further into his chemo therapy. Two talented young actors who help carry the movie.

That's not to forget about the rest of the cast. Houston is a heartbreaker as Diane, Adam's mom. She's caring for her husband (Serge Houde) who has Alzheimer's and doesn't realize Adam is even his son. It's a quick part -- only 3 or 4 scenes -- but a very strong one too. Anna Kendrick is perfectly cute as Katherine, Adam's psychiatrist, a student still working toward her doctorate and thrown into the fire immediately. Dallas-Howard better be careful too. She's very good here, but I wonder if she's being typecast a little bit, considering this part and in Hereafter two years ago. A very talented actress, but hopefully she isn't forced to take similar roles repeatedly. Frewer and Baker Hall as fellow chemo patients Mitch and Alan are especially good too, including one scene late as they join Adam and Kyle for a medicinal marijuana session.

I really liked the whole movie, but I really loved the last half hour. I won't go into details or spoil anything, but it is a very effective ending. The drama and emotion kicks into high gear as we see these very likable, very real people we've gotten to know forced to deal with issues you'd hope you could avoid your whole life. Also, great final scene and final shot, aided by Pearl Jam's Yellow Ledbetter. Excellent movie, one you should definitely check out.

50/50 <---trailer (2011): *** 1/2 /****

Hereafter

After struggling in theaters last fall during its first release, Clint Eastwood's 2010 film Hereafter has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons.  The film opens with a startling sequence of a tsunami hitting a coast somewhere in Asia.  After the recent natural disaster in Japan with an almost identical tsunami that claimed thousands of lives, the movie's premiere was postponed and more than likely canceled for good in Japan.

Upon its release, Eastwood's film struggled in theaters.  Critics were mixed about the movie, and it never caught on with audiences.  It's easy to see why.  In a lot of ways, it is the completely atypical Eastwood movie, unlike any of his other flicks as a director (more on that later). It also deals with one of the more polarizing issues when it comes to audiences and people in general, faith, religion, death and the afterlife.  Just about everyone has their personal opinions on the subject, and many don't want to be preached at about someone else's beliefs.  Fair enough I guess.  It's a shame because the movie is typical Eastwood, well-made, well-written, and just a good movie overall.

On vacation in Asia with her boyfriend, French TV journalist Marie Lelay (Cecile De France) barely survives a near-death experience when an immense tsunami strikes the coastal town she's staying in. Swept away by the wall of water, Marie has visions, maybe hallucinations, of another place, maybe out of this world which she struggles to deal with as she returns to her normal life. In London, 12-year old Marcus (played by twins Frankie and George McClaren) is dealing with the death of his twin brother as his mother deals with a substance abuse problem. All Marcus wants is some sort of answer. Is his brother all right wherever he went? And where do the dead do?  In San Francisco, factory worker George Lonegan (Matt Damon) is trying to move on with his life. From an early age, George has been able to communicate with the dead, but looking at the ability as a curse, he's trying to put it all behind him and live a normal life. As these three people's lives develop and change (for the better and worse), their paths seem destined to cross in some way. How? Who really knows?

Many of the reviews I read about Hereafter pointed out that this was such a departure for Clint Eastwood as a director.  His films always had a very gritty, hard-edged feel that showed people struggling through some past trauma, past incidents.  Think of Mystic River, Gran Torino, Million Dollar Baby, even Unforgiven and The Bridges of Madison County.  They were all about the people above all else.  That's why I don't understand the reviews written about Hereafter.  Is it a departure for Eastwood? Yes, of course it is because he is working on a different level, more faith-based, more personal beliefs. But at its heart, this movie is about the small people in a big world looking for some sort of happiness, some sort of answers to a question or a problem facing them. What I'm trying to say is that yes, this movie is different, but not bad different. It's Eastwood playing with what he knows but expanding on it out of his comfort zone.

Where I'm guessing this movie lost some people is at its most basic level, the conversation and dependency on the idea of an other world after death. That's an individual thing that will hit each person differently when talking about this movie.  If you don't believe in some version of a god, some place your soul goes after your death, you're probably going to struggle getting through this movie.  Not a judgment there, just an observation, I struggle with those questions myself.  At a certain point, you just have to go along with it all.  Damon's Lonegan actually does communicate with the dead. This isn't left up for interpretation by Eastwood and the script. George does it. Either you can accept this or you can't as a movie viewer.  The message boards at the IMDB are riddled with arguments -- not discussions -- about religions, god, life after death. It's got to be one of the easiest ways to start an argument (mention any of those), and it is then easy to see why a movie like this can be so dividing. What's disappointing is I don't think Eastwood intended to make a "message" movie. This is a movie about the people, not the idea.

The story follows in the vein of Crash where character interactions and storylines are inevitable.  For me, Damon's story is the best, a middle-aged man truly struggling through an ability given him.  He's lonely and just wants to be happy in one form or another. Through physical contact he can communicate with the dead so relationships are nearly impossible. He has a chance with Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard, great supporting part), a woman he meets at a cooking class he's enrolled in. You're rooting for George to just be happy, and Damon -- maybe Eastwood's new favorite actor -- does a fine job with the character. The other two main characters, Marie and Marcus, deliver equally impressive performances, but I didn't love them as much as Damon's.  De France especially turns in an amazing performance, and she's one of the more classically beautiful actresses I've ever seen. It all plays into this innocence, this vulnerability to her character trying to right her life.

One complaint I can understand is the somewhat slow pacing in this 129-minute movie.  Eastwood is in no rush to move the story along, and that's fine because we do get to know the three different characters. He provides these heartbreakingly real moments that will make you forget the slower moments.  George makes a connection with Howard's Melanie only to see his "ability" ruin the possibility of any future.  Marcus narrowly avoids being killed himself with some possible divine intervention. Marie finds an outlet for the questions she has. The best though is George's late scene with Marcus, genuine and real no matter how you look at it.  The ending could have been pegged sappy, but I'll say instead that it's tone and theme appropriate. An underrated work from one of my favorites, Clint Eastwood.

Hereafter <---trailer (2010): *** 1/2 /**** 

Terminator Salvation

Completely out of the blue this week, I went and saw Terminator Salvation with a bunch of family. Actually we bought tickets for Star Trek, but that's a different story. I've seen the first 3 Terminator movies so I knew the story and the background, and maybe most importantly, I've listened to star Christian Bale's on-set rant. That will always be entertaining. I'm kind of in the middle when it comes to Bale. I think he's a really good actor, loved him in 3:10 to Yuma, The Machinist, and Rescue Dawn, but I don't necessarily like him.

And as you look at the previews, trailers, posters and commercials, this movie is presented as Bale's movie, the beginning of the next round of Terminator moves. Bale plays John Connor, the rising leader of the resistance battling Skynet in the post-apocalyptic 2018 United States. For three movies, all we heard about was how John was this great, charismatic leader who must survive to lead the resistance. I hated Edward Furlong in T2, and Nick Stahl was all right in T3 so the precedent isn't that great. We're supposed to believe this character is the savior of mankind, but been given nothing to believe why. John Connor, initials J.C., get it?

It's odd then so much of this movie is spent on other storylines. My guess? Bale's only in about half of the movie's 115 minute running time. As John, he's okay, but it's not his best part. By far, this movie belongs to scene-stealing Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, maybe the coolest character I've seen in a movie since Tyler Durden. A brief opening scene in 2003 shows Marcus on Death Row, signing a waiver for Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter, great in a small part) to donate his body to science. Flash forward to 2018 where after a disastrous patrol where only John survives, a man, Marcus, walks out of the rubble. He has a mission, an objective, but even he himself doesn't quite know what it is.

If you've seen the trailer or any number of previews, you know Marcus' secret, but I won't blow it here. I will say his character's turmoil gives the movie some heart, even some depth. As the series looks ahead, and yes, the ending leaves a big opening for more movies, I certainly hope Marcus Wright is included somehow, even more so than John Connor. That's what surprised me about the movie in general, the supporting cast steals the movie. Also worth mentioning are Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, a resistance pilot who meets Marcus and believes he can help the effort, Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, a young man who will one day become John's father, Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate, John's pregnant wife (formerly played by Claire Danes) and Jadagrace as Star, Kyle's mute traveling partner. And just cause they're cool and generally badasses, Michael Ironside plays a resistance general and rapper Common as Barnes, one of John's men.

Now by this point maybe you're wondering why I even saw the movie. The movie is just there without a lot of reason to get involved. It's not bland, but it's close with some to all of the blame going to director McG. All other things aside, the action scenes are top-notch as John, Marcus, Kyle and Co. battle any number of Terminators. The post-apocalyptic setting in California gives the movie quite a unique look too, like a lot of westerns with the lone gunfighter trying to survive.

Maybe because this story has only been talked about in the previous three movies, with an occasional flashback or flashforward I guess, but T-Salvation didn't quite feel like a Terminator movie. It's a good action movie, but other than the names and some nods to fans of the series, it could have been a stand-alone movie. The Terminators are nameless, just metal robots trying to kill John and Kyle. The Governator himself, Arnold, makes a quasi-appearance but it's so badly done CGI that it's distracting. Other touches gone horribly wrong, the delivery midway through the movie of Arnold's famous line "I'll be back." SSsssssssssssssoooooo bad, so cheesy. I would recommend seeing the first 3 movies before Salvation though. It will definitely help you understand and clear up the storyline here. You might be lost otherwise.

Still, I liked the movie despite its flaws. As I said, the action and chase scenes are good on a big and little level, you care for most of the characters on the small level and the epicness of some of the attacks is cool to watch. Here's an official trailer for T-Salvation that hopefully convinces you to go see the movie, it's one of the more effective trailers I've watched in awhile. And one more push to get you to go see this one...Transformers 2 trailer runs in front of it. If Megan Fox sprawled across another car doesn't convince you to go, I'm out of ideas. You're on your own.