What does a $200 million budget buy you? Well, explosions, guns, car chases, explosions, gunfire, mangled machine parts, explosions, gunfire, oh, and did I mention explosions? It's an action-fest of the highest order, with brilliant special effects, and it's fun for what it is. It's got an action/rest, action/rest, action/rest rhythm that makes it predictable. But at the very least the action is done well, for the most part sans the irritating shaky cam that plagues modern day action movies. Even if depth of character or a strong storyline are not what McG is good at, at least he knows how to throw together an entertaining action sequence.
Although most action movies aren't exactly aiming for any Oscars in the acting department, it must be said that a lot of the acting in Salvation is sub-par (which is down to the cheesy, groan-inducing dialogue which makes far too many appearances), for the most part from the supporting players. The likes of Moon Bloodgood (is that really her name?) and Common (yes, the rapper) are, at times, eye-rollingly bad. Christian Bale seems to be doing his overly gruff Batman voice heard in The Dark Knight, and it's the first time since Reign of Fire that I didn't think he was fantastic. He is sort of flat and "so what?" as Connor. I guess it's the big paycheck and giant explosion movies that bring out the worst in him as an actor.
Sam Worthington, as the prisoner with a troubled, mysterious past, is the only one who shines here. A relative newcomer to the acting world (his first appearance was in 2000), Worthington exudes a certain star quality that should carry him in the movie business for a long, long time (read: the next big thing). His upcoming stint in James Cameron's sci-fi mega-blockbuster Avatar is sure to put him even more in the spotlight than Salvation has. His character here is, ironically (considering a pivotal plot point of which I won't give away), the only one we feel any empathy towards, with the human members of the Resistance not instilling any in the audience. And that's a problem for a movie that's supposed to be about the hope of humanity surviving against attacking machines. When a movie is, at its core, about blowing stuff up and shooting anything that gets in its way, an attempt at anything humanistic is simply in vain.
Article comments
1 - Dustin Lerch
I like the review man...and I agree with some of it but others I don't really agree with. But...that's the beauty of movies...not everyone is going to agree. I agree that Sam Worthington stole the show from everyone. I thought he was fantastic. But...for me...I got exactly what I wanted and expected out of Salvation. That's why I gave it such high regard. I got the storyline and the just of what's going on in the first two films. With this film I wanted to see the war...I wanted to see the battle between man and machine. I didn't need a great big storyline...I needed the action...the fighting...the blowing stuff up. That's what this movie for me was about...it was about the war. I will say something else to though...going back and re-watching the first 2 films after watching this helped me big time. It filled in so many gaps in the storyline. It had been a while since I had seen the first 2 films so a lot of the storyline I had forgotten...that was helped by re-watching the first two films. If it's been a while since you watched the first two films maybe it would help you too. It also put ideas in my head of what we may see in the film/films to come. Great review man...keep them coming