Overblown action yet story carries it till the end

Rating: 5/10 (4 April 2010)

A TX (Loken) machine from the future is sent back in time to assassinate John Connor (Stahl) in a bid to wipe out human kind's chance of survival.
12 years had passed between the crowd pleasing sequel Judgement Day and the release of this 3rd part and at a time of technical revolution, that prevailed over story in this disappointing if still watchable sequel.
The Matrix had broken minds, Lord of the Rings was epic swiping Oscars for all departments and such, the science fiction genre itself was a stepping stone tester for digital effects which this film justifies right from the off.
As the previous films started with two naked men appearing in an electrical storm this film uses the same effect with a stunningly blank Kristanna Loken and the usual coolness of Arnie. Before this there is a reasonable opening as Nick Stahl's John Connor, a depiction of insecurity and hurried decisions, sets the game straight for us that had forgotten. The Terminator had tried to kill Sarah Connor in 1984 before remerging years later to terminate John Connor himself. Arnie, again the good robot, is programmed to protect John Connor and new character and significant protagonist of the future Kate Brewster (a fairly composed character from Claire Danes) The story moves along with its futuristic ethics and mythology that were used in the previous two films, though without the conviction and importance Cameron laid down so easily, and his presence, and lack of it, is certainly profound here.
Every term spoken by the T101 feels action orientated with a heavy weight. He burdens everything with a macho ideology whilst the camera shoots him in a hero motive. There isn't a free flowing spontaneity about the terminator, which is a dreadful shame.
The opening stages of Connor laying the current situation down are good, giving the film a dramatic implication as he reveals his loneliness and depression over the lack of happenings since the postponement of judgement day. The scene on the bike with the animal in the road was well shot, very simple and capturing the feeling of bad luck perfectly.
But after that director Jonathan Mostow simply over indulges the film with a hyperbole of action sequences that would never ever happen in their presentation of realism. The big truck (trying to capitalise on good technique from previous films) sequence is so over blown and unnecessary whilst the final sequences and scenes in Skynet are all perfect timing and minimal chances have an alternative action orientated drivel.
As Terminator Salvation showed as well the science fiction genre has become fixated with special effects rather than using the plot to the advantage of the story, which this justifies. Whilst the essence of the terminator origins sees this one through there is little salvation in that this is not a match for the previous two releases.