I’m not even sure where to begin with describing what’s wrong with this film. So I guess I’ll try starting with what was done right. Firstly, the special effects were very nice. But how many big budget films these days, especially ones bearing the Terminator name, can you honestly say have bad special effects?  Yeah, that’s right. Second of all, um, well… that’s it. Sorry. I tried.

Now, the bad. The direction by McG has no… direction. Even the action is a bore (this is bad for a Terminator film). The story, which in hindsight had enough meat on it to make it worthwhile, instead plays out as if the writers were making it up as they went along. Most characters exist with literally no purpose whatsoever, unless they were written in to please fans who know more about the Terminator universe than the cinemagoer like myself who has only seen the films. Every single plot turn is so predictable that the accompanying flashbacks that are supposed to help the audience connect the dots will seem nothing less than patronising to anyone who hadn’t fallen asleep from the start of the film.

And there’s too many “new” Terminators. In my opinion the previous films worked so well (okay, maybe not so much the third one) partly because there was only one menace, one threat, one hunter that was so fearsomely powerful, so thoughtlessly determined and seemingly unstoppable that you couldn’t help but get a thrill out of watching the Connors try and outrun and outsmart such a nightmarish foe. The despair and fear was concentrated in one villain, one symbol of a horrifying future. Now that the film puts us in the future, there’s all sorts of Terminators — massive ones as tall as skyscrapers, smaller “scout” ones, silly motorbike ones and even fish ones that live underwater — and we are no longer scared, because now it’s just a bad videogame where every enemy has a weak point and where destroying them is more of a chore than an something bordering on the impossible. And since nearly all the characters — human and machine — are so one-dimensional, we no longer care who “wins the war”, either (not that we’d ever expect Hollywood to let the machines win).

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the film’s ending does nothing to save you from feeling like you just wasted your time. In fact, it more or less tells you that you have.

This is going to be one of those series’ that I’m sure will get a “reboot” a bit further down the line, if any more even get made after this, though I’m not sure how successful any re-imagining of the series could be without transporting us all back to the 80s and 90s when Arnie was still fit and legally able to fill what is essentially his role, and when the idea of a vast, world wide computer network was still new enough to frighten a population who hadn’t yet warmed to it thanks to fun things like social networking and watching videos on YouTube. But it’s 2009 now, and The Matrix has already done a fine job of updating this cautionary tale of man vs. machine for modern audiences. It may very well be time to terminate this saga before it gets any more stale.

Now to the “Sony Building” part of this article’s title. I caught this film showing there this afternoon. For those unaware, the Sony Building is located in Ginza, Tokyo, and exhibits all the latest Sony gear from cameras to laptops to videogames to music players, and so on and so forth, most of which you can get hands-on with. On Level 8 of this spiralling building, however, is the “Communication Zone OPUS”, which is used to showcase the company’s latest audio and visual technology. It presently boasts a colossal 200 inch “4K” screen (4,096 x 2,160 resolution, four times higher than full HD) and 7.1 channel surround sound speakers. But the best thing about it are the free shows that Sony puts on to demonstrate its power, such as the Terminator Salvation Blu-Ray they’d been screening until today (the last day for this particular movie). That’s right, they’re free! Simply check the theatre schedule outside and turn up on time. Though be warned that seats are limited, not only in number but in terms of the amount of comfort and back support they provide, and the room and seating itself is set up in such a way that anyone who is not in the first row will most likely have some bottom part of the screen obscured by the people in front of them. This will be of particular concern to you if you are bringing a Japanese friend who cannot understand English, as getting a bad seat will mean that they probably won’t be able to read the subtitles. I suppose the opposite will also be true for non-Japanese speakers if the show is in Japanese with English subtitles…

And because you all probably just ignored what I wrote and scrolled down to see if there were any pictures, here are some photos of a big T-600 that was on display on the ground floor.

No high-fives? Aw.

Say cheese!

OPUS – Sony Building