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rsadelleI should forewarn you that I was inclined to be cranky about this movie anyway because (a) I'm still upset about Fox canceling Sarah Connor Chronicles and (b) the theater we were in had the volume up to be the loudest thing I've ever heard. I don't think I would have liked it even if those two things weren't true.
I think part of my disappointment comes in the comparison to SCC. SCC is so interesting with such a complex plot (which is what you can do with a TV season) where the movie was pretty simplistic. The show is also well grounded in relationships - including relationships between humans and robots. The movie, not so much, which is a problem. The end narration says that what makes us human is our hearts, but we don't get to see that from the humans. We get Blair's rescue of Marcus, pregnant Kate, and Kyle's relationship with Star, but none of that is developed well enough for it to really make the point, and the movie isn't quite strong enough to make a point about the decline of humanity if a robot is the most heartful person in it. We get only one moment of John having a real personal connection to another human being: the way he and Kate are together when he comes back from the opening mission, which was probably my favorite moment of the whole movie. SCC seemed to be heading for humans learning to work with robots and robots learning to be more human. T4 could have done the same thing, but the fact that Marcus dies means there's no future in it.
I'm also kind of over the "what makes us human?" question, especially as done badly by Hollywood. Between this and Dollhouse, I've had enough. Someday, though, this will make good fodder for some student's paper on early twenty-first century technology-related anxiety. (I do kind of want to rewatch Blade Runner, though, and see if it holds up over time.)
I don't think it even worked very well as an action movie. Action movies are supposed to be fun, and this wasn't.
The one thing I really liked in the movie was the coat. At the end of T4, John gives Kyle his coat. At the end of SCC, John puts on Kyle's coat.
I think part of my disappointment comes in the comparison to SCC. SCC is so interesting with such a complex plot (which is what you can do with a TV season) where the movie was pretty simplistic. The show is also well grounded in relationships - including relationships between humans and robots. The movie, not so much, which is a problem. The end narration says that what makes us human is our hearts, but we don't get to see that from the humans. We get Blair's rescue of Marcus, pregnant Kate, and Kyle's relationship with Star, but none of that is developed well enough for it to really make the point, and the movie isn't quite strong enough to make a point about the decline of humanity if a robot is the most heartful person in it. We get only one moment of John having a real personal connection to another human being: the way he and Kate are together when he comes back from the opening mission, which was probably my favorite moment of the whole movie. SCC seemed to be heading for humans learning to work with robots and robots learning to be more human. T4 could have done the same thing, but the fact that Marcus dies means there's no future in it.
I'm also kind of over the "what makes us human?" question, especially as done badly by Hollywood. Between this and Dollhouse, I've had enough. Someday, though, this will make good fodder for some student's paper on early twenty-first century technology-related anxiety. (I do kind of want to rewatch Blade Runner, though, and see if it holds up over time.)
I don't think it even worked very well as an action movie. Action movies are supposed to be fun, and this wasn't.
The one thing I really liked in the movie was the coat. At the end of T4, John gives Kyle his coat. At the end of SCC, John puts on Kyle's coat.