Movie Review: Terminator Salvation

Synopsis: John Connor (Christian Bale) is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations.

While I wasn't blown away by the story or the acting, I think both are adequate and the real stars are the action and effects, which this movie has boatloads of both. I thought the cinematography was great and very dark. It's a bleak and disturbing future and that comes across well. The action sequences are intense, loud and full of eye-candy type CGI. I liked the looks of the robots, cyborgs and machines. Also, Danny Elfman's score is really good.

But the story did seem to really lack meat and potatoes like the emotional first film or even the second one. This one is more about whistles and bells, which leaves it feeling a bit heartless at the center. Christian Bale seems to want to emote, but there's really not much for him to sink his teeth into. He's pretty much in 1 mood most of the time... angry and ready to kick butt. John Conner's character doesn't really call for much more than that at this point. Actually, most of the characters in this one are pretty wooden.

There are a few nods to the other films, which was sort of cool I thought. Arnie "sort of" makes an appearance, Guns N Roses "You Could Be Mine" blasts from a boom box and Conner ushers the classic line "I'll be back".

Personally, this is what I like from my Summer blockbusters sometimes. Less thinking, more explosions. This isn't as good as the first 2 in the series but better than T3. The action sequences are fantastic and it looks and sounds great. I had fun.

7.5/10