Eff as in “Eff You Fox TV!” but more on that below…
First, I saw Terminator: Salvation. My official opinion is that the critics are filthy liars, but you should know that by now. Salvation, or T4, as I prefer, was actually great. The story line was neither confusing nor poorly written. Perhaps if one has never seen any of the previous three films, a few concepts might be lost; terminators, characters, Judgment Day. But seriously, what business do you have reviewing films if you’ve never seen The Terminator?! Or, conversely, if you HAVE seen The Terminator, but still had trouble following the plot of Salvation, you are probably exceptionally stupid and should promptly give up your job as a film critic. Although, I suppose we only have the individuals responsible for giving you meaningful employment as a film critic to blame.
Enough reference to those idiots, I don’t want to give them any more word time than necessary. I repeat: Salvation was actually great. Ok, no Star Trek, I readily admit. But a action flick gem of 2009 nonetheless, and a satisfying addition to the Terminator franchise. Certainly it is better than Rise of the Machines. *Please note, I actually enjoyed T3; though it is the least enjoyable of the four films, the final scene with John Connor stepping up to his role as leader of what is to become the Resistance is worth the age-related inaccuracies and toleration of Clarie Danes. Also, though some may disagree, I liked that the Terminator was able to override his programming, adding another layer to the learning capabilities of AI. This ability of self-determination later plays a key kick-ass role in the plot of The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Back to T4 now… my ultimate reason for loving this movie was that it gave us a look at the fruit of the franchise: The War Against the Machines. The reason the other three movies exist. In the previous three films, we’re seeing essentially “the past”. The main plot elements – the machines, Skynet, Judgment Day, John Connor – come from our future, but as far as the overarching story is concerned, they are the present. Maybe I`m not explaining this right. Kyle Reese and the various terminators are sent to the past, and this is the part of the story we see, but the real story exists in the future, and now we finally get to see it in more than just flashes. I don`t know about you, but for me, this is a huge payoff after 25 years of wondering what it would be like in a post-Judgment Day world. I actually look forward to the sequel they so obviously set up, assuming they do it well.
My favourite part of the film though was seeing a young Kyle Reese. I`ve had a pseudo-crush on the character my whole life. I say pseudo, because I was too young to really have a crush on him when I first saw The Terminator (I was 3 when it came out, probably 5 before I really took notice of it). But he`s always been there; Sarah`s, and in turn John`s, hero. It wasn`t until I was older that I really thought about him in a crushy way, and even then, I loved John more. But I digress from where I was going with this point. Since looking forward to seeing a new portrayal of John Connor was out of the question, due to the casting of creepo Christian Bale, I was most excited to see how a younger, future version of Kyle Reese would turn out.
And A+ on that casting job guys! Obviously I saw Anton Yelchin in Star Trek a few weeks ago, but I had no idea he was in Salvation. I didn`t really look into the Salvation cast all that much due to my Bale-related pre-disappointment, so I had no idea I would be getting Break-out Actor 2009 Part Two (you heard it hear first!). Holy crap, he`s awesome! Too young for me, so it`s not even about the hot factor – though he is a cute kid. But Yelchin is just a brilliant actor. I YouTubed some clips from tv shows he`s been in, and his awesomeness is consistent. I cannot wait to see him in other stuff.
By the way, as much disdain as I had for the Bale-Connor portrayal, it actually wasn`t half bad. I was creeped out at first, but by the end I warmed up to him a bit. I still would have loved it more if he wasn`t there at all, but I can live with it. If nothing else, my love for John Connor helped me get over my fear of Christian Bale, so I guess it can only be called a Win. How sweet would it have been, though, to see a revived Ed Furlong?! Maybe that`s just me…
And since I am always about the hot factor, and clearly didn`t get it from Bale or too-young Yelchin, I must add that I DID get it from Sam Worthington. Yum, indeed! Could do with a little work on his American accent, but I excuse him. In my head, Marcus Wright is actually an Aussie-American immigrant, so it`s cool. Someone I went with asked if I preferred the hotness of Marcus as human or as machine, and I hold to my response: a little bit of both; I`m freaky like that. My friend actually replied that that response wasn`t even weird coming from me. It truly isn`t. I`m not above hearting on a machine, if he`s heart worthy (c.f. Jude Law`s Gigolo Joe in AI.)
Ok, so now that that is out of the way, I move on to the real point of this post, which is to poo-poo on Fox`s cancellation of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Riddle me this: in what right mind does a network drop a show that already has a cult following the week before the release of a film which is guaranteed to pique interest in said show? Like, seriously. I get that ratings were low-ish. I get that the season was already over. But they`re keeping Fringe, for eff sake, which is just not that good. Ok, ok, JJ Abrams. Star Trek. Point taken. And I certainly don`t want to see them drop Dollhouse, as it clings on for dear life, due to their past screwing-over of Joss Whedon, whom I adore. What, then, is the scheduling solution? I don`t know. But I DO know you shouldn`t cancel awesome shows. Then again, this is Fox we`re talking about, and canceling awesome shows seems to be their MO. How about axing shit like Don`t Forget the Lyrics, or So You Think You Can Dance, or anything else of the bore-fest that is reality TV? Gah!
I can only hope another network picks up SCC. I actually joined the Resistance this morning, and will spend my summer campaigning to save Sarah Connor. Check it out here. The CW would be an awesome candidate, not only because I`m able to get it for free with my rabbit ears, but because they have a tremendous history for taking on the unwanted but beloved cult hits. Plus they already have my favouritist on-air show, Supernatural. Personally, I`d squeeze out Smallville, which timeline-wise should be out already (Clarke is like 25 now and should be off donning those disallowed tights already!), and throw in SCC at 8pm Thursdays before Supernatural, so I can continue my glued-to-the-couch-Thursday tradition.
I don`t actually care what network picks it up though, I just want to be able to watch John Connor fight to save the future every week. Someone make it happen!
UberFanGirl
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