Terminator Salvation is a flawed movie, and while Christian Bale's John Connor was underwhelming, one T2 reference helped redeem the character.
Christian Bale's John Connor in Terminator Salvation was a disappointing rendition, but one Terminator 2 reference helped redeem his take on the character. It's no secret that the Terminator franchise has seen better days, and its downturn is by no means a recent one. Every Terminator movie since Judgment Day has received mixed reactions at best, and sometimes outright hostile ones. Perhaps it's the curse of initial greatness, but the bar for what counts as a good Terminator movie tends to be set quite high.
In the case of Terminator Salvation, there was at least a decent amount of hope going in from many franchise devotees, for two primary reasons. The first was that a Terminator movie set entirely during the future war between humans and machines had a lot of potential as a concept, and was something lots of people had hoped might happen. The second was the casting of Christian Bale as John Connor, as Bale was red hot coming off his starring role in The Dark Knight. For all the anticipation, however, Terminator Salvation ended up being both a critical and commercial disappointment.
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The largely negative reaction even extended to Bale's Connor, who didn't feel like someone either the Edward Furlong and Nick Stahl versions of the character would have grown up to be. Yet, there's one particular scene that provides Bale's Connor his best moment, involving the resistance leader calling back to Terminator 2 by using a boombox playing Guns 'n Roses' "You Could Be Mine" to lure in a Skynet bike, a.k.a a Moto-Terminator. As a sly nod to a memorable moment from James Cameron's smash hit, the inclusion of the track gave longtime fans an Easter egg to enjoy and showed that Terminator Salvation was, for all its flaws, deeply rooted in franchise lore.
As references to Terminator 2 go, this particular moment is one of several to be found in Terminator Salvation, but what helps make it work is its relative subtlety. "You Could Be Mine" is only heard briefly in Terminator 2, when John and his friend Tim head to the mall, a location where John will later find himself caught between the T-800 and the T-1000. While the song also had a music video tie-in with Terminator 2, that video had long since faded into the past by 2009.
Christian Bale's John Connor choosing to use "You Could Be Mine" as part of his strategy to take out the Moto-Terminator helps connect what had been a fairly one-note gruff characterization to the more innocent John played by Edward Furlong. It helps establish that, as different this older John might seem, he still remembers his childhood adventures, and likely chose that song because it brings him a certain level of comfort to hear it. It also brings some much-needed levity to an otherwise grim action blockbuster. Furthermore, the music presumably reminds John of both the mother he lost and the unlikely father figure he found in Arnold Schwarzenegger's reprogrammed T-800, one he still probably misses all these years later. It's far from enough to save Terminator Salvation as a movie, but it definitely helps rescue Bale's John Connor from being a complete write-off.
More: Terminator 7 Needs To Restore What Made Arnie's T-800 Perfect In T2
Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor. Most recently, Michael helped launch Screen Rant's new horror section, and is now the lead staff writer when it comes to all things frightening. A FL native, Michael is passionate about pop culture, and earned an AS degree in film production in 2012. He also loves both Marvel and DC movies, and wishes every superhero fan could just get along. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. A long-term member of the Screen Rant family, Michael looks forward to continuing on creating new content for the site for many more years to come.