Terminator Salvation

Why isn't "Terminator: Salvation" the accepted rendering of this film's title? I don't really get that. Anyway, despite a number of factors working against it, I found this movie to be reasonably watchable rather than completely terrible. I understand that that's not exactly high praise, though for something by McG it kind of is. Despite its plot making the absolute minimum of logical sense, and the fact that it completely ignores much of what we learned from the other movies, and that the very idea of a PG-13 Terminator movie seems abhorrent, I did manage to wring some enjoyment out of its one hundred and ten minutes. Yeah, the story has holes, but they're just more obvious when you compare them to some of the impossible scenarios in the other movies. Yeah, it conveniently forgets some things we knew about the machines and the war in the future, but the series stopped following its own rules long ago. I don't want to sound like I'm praising it too much, because it's not very good at all, but I didn't hate it.

I mean, let's be real. It's weird how these Terminators seem immune to molten steel yet vulnerable to bullets, but the series is so inconsistent about what can and can't kill these machines and what they're made out of that it hardly matters at this point. The fact that all those sweet laser weapons are missing is disconcerting, but it sort of wouldn't match the aesthetic they were going for if they were there, and it is after all ten years before the flashbacks from the first two movies. Maybe they just haven't been invented yet. I found it easiest to get some fun out of the movie when I was just watching it as an apocalyptic, very loud action film, and ignoring its blasphemies against the more beloved entries in the series. I actually thought McG did some good stuff here and there. Visually, it really captures the future war thing in places, with some extended takes that really pushed the desperate nature of the fighting. Of course, the performances he got from some of the cast are another story.

There's quite a few recognizable faces in this movie, and not many do much to distinguish themselves. Christian Bale, ostensibly but not really the main character, is decent as usual, though you can make a case he wasn't really trying terribly hard here. I appreciate that Sam Worthington has the look and physique of a more old school action hero, but in two big roles he hasn't really done that much. Someone should just give him a part he can freely use his Aussie accent in. Michael Ironside gets to push himself not very hard at all in a typical hardass authority role, which is always fun, and Helena Bonham Carter is creepy enough in a multifaceted part. I liked Anton Yelchin as Chekov in Star Trek (even more than Walter Koenig, honestly), but he can't save a poorly written, teenage version of Kyle Reese from damaging the character's legacy a bit. There's a few other notable people here and there, but not much to say about them.

And there's really not much to say about the rest of the film. There's some decent action and effects for the first two thirds, and then it sort of comes off the rails in the final act as the plot gets less and less believable. Really, the most offensive part of the whole project is how it plays around with what's already been established by superior works, but for whatever reason I found that relatively easy to ignore. Certainly watchable, but just as easily avoided.

Darksiders

If you've heard anything at all about Darksiders, it probably involved its similarities to other video games. It's a bit lazy to rely on comparisons to other titles to describe a game, but in Darksiders' case it would be disingenuous not to mention it. So let's just throw it all out there. The overall game structure and use of puzzle-filled enclosed areas are reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda series and its temples. The platforming elements seem most directly taken from God of War, and there are some similarities with the combat but it feels closer to Devil May Cry in that area. There is a segment that more or less matches the standard gameplay of the Panzer Dragoon series, and there is an item later on that borrows heavily from the mechanics of Portal, although you can trip yourself up if you assume certain things about it. And that about covers it.

A game that takes this much from other titles could have easily ended up being derivative trash, but for whatever reason the crassness with which it borrows is almost charming. As shameless as it is, it's well executed for the most part, and in some ways I'm actually glad it does what it does. The God of War games will always have superior production values and a (slightly) deeper combat system, but the adventure elements are what I like most about that series anyway, and Darksiders is sort of the perfect balance. Well, not quite perfect. They still force you into fighting a bit too often, and the game's reliance on enemies doing tons of damage in lieu of adding more strategy to combat is a bit weak. But while I love Zelda, a lot of us have wanted a darker take on it, and this is basically our shot at getting it. Note I didn't say more serious, because this game is pretty far from that.

It was designed by a comic book artist, and there's an unflinching over the top style to everything. The game takes place mostly on a ravaged Earth after humanity was wiped out, and you play one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse (War, naturally) as he defends himself against both the forces of heaven and hell. He has few allies, and the story is a quest of redemption as he tries to prove it wasn't his fault everything went bad. The designs of everything from the costumes to the monsters is like a little kid's idea of what's totally awesome, and the comic book comparison really is fitting. It's the sort of thing that I enjoy in a not really ironic but still not totally serious way, but really wouldn't show to anyone who doesn't like games.

But I really do like it, there's a nice thickness to everything that's part of the appeal along with the consistently solid level design and simple honesty of the whole thing. When I was maybe a third through the game my PS3 hard drive crashed and I lost most of my saves, so I had to sit down and marathon my way back to where I was for four hours, and I liked doing it. I don't think I could really say that about a lot of games, so take from that what you will. The game makes mistakes along the way, but it's sort of like an eager to please puppy or something that you can't possibly hate. I also have to mention the voice acting, which really fits the whole thick, over the top thing. Mark Hamill plays a character who accompanies you on your quest that I could take or leave, but pretty much everyone has this deep, guttural voice and is really way too into what they're saying to each other, and I enjoyed every second of it. It really completes the sale on this insane doomsday scenario they're throwing at you. The end promises a sequel, and I'm looking forward to the possibility.