Kyle Kerr

The Connors Are Back!

01/16/08 | Awesome, TV Shows | 2 Comments

So, did anyone see the premiere of the new Terminator series on Sunday and Monday?

I did!

WATCHED

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Guys, wow.  It was truly amazing.  From the opening sequence, which shows headlights traveling along a road at night (which was the last scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day), I was completely hooked.  It transitioned into an apocalyptic dream sequence, which was absolutely perfect, and drew you right into the storyline.

I have to admit, though, it took a little bit for me to get used to the new Sarah and John Connor.  I mean, how could you ever get better than Linda Hamilton and Eddie Furlong?  You can’t, but obviously they couldn’t do it (Eddie Furlong is in his 30s now, and even though I know people play below their actual age all the time, that would have been a bit ridiculous).  But after a few minutes, once the action starts, you forget all about it and just go with it.  Seriously, it’s that good.

And, with 34 million viewers in two days, we know we’ve got a hit on our hands!

The story starts off about two-three years after T2 leaves off, when John is 15.  They’re in hiding, with Terminators and government agencies searching for them.  The government actually thinks that Sarah killed Miles Dyson, the original creator of Skynet, who died in the second movie (because the police shot him, by the way).  When they move to a new town, all hell breaks loose.

Along as the “good” Terminator is Cameron (named after James Cameron, the creator of the Terminator storyline), played by Summer Glau.  I’ve liked her ever since seeing her in Joss Weadon’s Firefly series, and subsequent Serenity movie.  She makes the perfect robot.  She may look tiny, but she packs a serious punch, and can take one hell of a beating.  The new “bad” Terminator is no Arnold, but still menacing.

At the end of the first episode, Sarah, John and Cameron transport themselves from the 90s to 2007, two years after Sarah is supposed to die of cancer (which we found out in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines).  And, you know what that means!  You can’t time travel with anything, including clothes… booty shots!

My only slight complaint is John Connor, but I can understand what they were trying to do.  He’s such a little smartass in T2, and I loved that about him.  He cursed, he talked back, he had an attitude, you know?  But this John is a little too passive and nice.  I know that the John in T3 is nice and honorable and all that, so they’re trying to show the transition from smartass to hero, but I kind of miss all of the one-liners and talk-backs.  I’m sure I’ll get over it, though.

If you haven’t seen the first two episodes, definitely check them out before the next episode, which airs Monday, January 21st, at 9PM on Fox.

I don’t know if it’s true of not, but my parents told me I was named after the character Kyle Reese in the first Terminator movie.  That movie came out in 1984, and I was born in ’85, so I go with it.  That may be why I’m so in love with the series… it’s been engrained in me since birth.  T2 is one of my favorite movies of all time (probably number two or three, definitely in the Top 5).

Now, a new trilogy is in the works.  Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins is slated for release in June 2009, with Christian Bale taking up the role of John Connor after the apocalypse.  I am so psyched that this franchise is going to continue for a good long time.

I am making a prediction and a statement to you all, here and now: I WILL write the screenplay for T5 or T6, one way or another.  Katie Holmes said she would marry Tom Cruise when she was younger, and look how that turned out for her.  This will happen, and it will be one of the highlights of my life.  Remember this day.

Until next…

Kyle W. Kerr