not worthy of the name Terminator

Rating: 4/10 (17 December 2009)

This film has no soul... and surprisingly little inventive action. The cast is good (except for Bale's latest in a long line of loud, over the top performances). But they have nothing to work with in this film, which pretty much drops the ball for the Terminator franchise.
The first film is a classic. The second, is quite possibly the greatest action movie ever produced. Even the third film, with all of it's flaws, is still a fun, effective adventure story with a backbone and something to say.
This instalment however, lacks everything that makes the series loved. John has become a lone, dull, 2-dimensional character who's lost all of the vibrancy he once had. None of the characters are very full of life, even though they constantly talk about the passion of being a human being. In fact, the only truly passionate person in the story is not really a person at all, but a machine, thereby hampering the central message it tries to send.
There are no strong relationships in this film. You never get to know anything about anyone, so you never really care if they die. Also, the distinctive sense of humor which characterized the previous films, is nowhere to be seen. The television series Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles did a much better job of keeping this series alive, passionate and vibrant. Save yourself the annoyance and watch a couple episodes of the TV show instead. It's far better.
There is not a single laugh or moment of true sadness here, in a humourless, heartless film that takes itself far too seriously and doesn't even know what it's trying to say.
A hollow, mediocre action flick, not worthy of the name terminator.