The Terminator: On Continuity

A war is fought in the near future after a nuclear holocaust. A defense network called Skynet went online and decided the human race was unworthy to survive and annihilated the world in an afternoon. Years later, the human survivors, used as slaves to help with the disposal of their kind, rise up in revolution and form The Resistance. Their leader is John Connor (Edward Furlong, Nick Stahl, Christian Bale). The fight is long and hard, losses on both sides and the machines begin a brilliant strategy, fight the future in the battlefields of the past. The machines learn the theories of time travel and send back their most deadly weapon, The Terminator, to eliminate Connor before he can fulfill his destiny and destroy Skynet. First they send one (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) before John can be born...they fail. John Connor is born and twelve years later, Skynet tries again. They send their newest model (Robert Patrick) to kill John as a child. Again, they fail. John grows up off the grid, Skynet begins to target his resistance lieutenants starting with Kate Brewster Connor (Claire Danes, Bryce Dallas Howard,) his second in command, later his wife. They send the next lethal model (Kristanna Loken) and fail again. This is because the resistance has discovered the time traveling machine, too and has sent back protectors, starting with Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn, Anton Yelchin,) a human and John Connor's father, and several different Terminator 101 models (Schwarzenegger.) Together, the targets and protectors, work to avert Judgement Day: the day the machines destroy mankind. Judgement Day is fixed and the bombs fall regardless, and Connor survives again. In the year 2018, John struggles against the machines, but the future is not what he's been expecting...and this time Kyle's in danger, number one on Skynet's hit-list. And a mysterious stranger (Sam Worthington) who's also not what John's expecting may be their only hope.

Continuity in a series is vital to maintain the tightness of plot, allowing for a gradual plot arc to occur with little effort. The writing must be consistent, the tone must be similar, even if the scriptwriter is not the one who wrote the previous installment. Casting in serial films may not always secure the same performer for serial roles, so the writing and tone set the pace for the performer. The characters may also change story to story but the world remains the same, so it's important that Continuity be kept. Keeping continuity straight adds an air of credibility to the series.

This series has has four installments: The Terminator, T2: Judgement Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation. The films themselves span 25 years in production...and it seems they are not finished. And so, I'll review this series in three or four installments, in order to break up the length of the response, conforming to project rule number three.

The writing is consistent almost down to a formula, which I will cover next time. The story tells of a target being hunted down for extermination. He or she is safeguarded by a resistance-sent protector, who takes his job very seriously. The protector and the Terminator battle to the death, leaving the target to finish them off with an almost accidental plan.

It's in the characters that the consistency is most solid for this series. John slowly turns from an immature, empathetic child to a weary, battle-hardened warrior, as he is meant to. And Furlong to Stahl to Bale was perfectly cast. Furlong still has the tough nature he needs to become who he's supposed to become; however, he is only twelve and his performance says it clearly. Stahl performs street-smart with class and attitude, but still has the empathetic nature within and allows it to come out every now and again. Bale still has enough heart and humanity left, the moments between him and Howard are tender, but just tough enough to show that they are still warriors, and they're serious about this fight.

The tone is our Kryptonite. The first and second installments feel as if they could bleed into each other as two halves of a whole. Some of the same gimmicks are played out...and the formula is pretty much the same. The third becomes removed and comes off a bit corny, the humor is flat, the production design is too bright, and the score less militant. The performances were a bit awkward, despite Schwarzennegger's remaining in the role that defined him...and still does. Salvation tries to get back on track and does a good job in returning the dark militant nature to the series. The score by Danny Elfman, as well as the picture design and casting, especially with Yelchin as Kyle Reese, who brilliantly channels Biehn's original performance, maintains the feeling of the first two installments with the modernity of the third. As well, a good feeling like the beginning of a second trilogy with the air of a prequel. Three out of four, a solid majority in the positive...it's not perfect, but it does generally feel right; it's the same score, the same game.

Terminator's a smooth series and I'm looking forward to the rest, whenever that may be.

****

Coming soon: Terminator - The Formula