Good but not great

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2009)

At last we have the long anticipated fourth installment of the "Terminator" franchise. Has it been worth the wait? The answer to that question is one part "yes", and one part "well..maybe". This one is set after the nuclear war at the end of T3, in the year 2018 to be exact, and the war between humans and the Skynet computer system is going at full-tilt.
There are several different plot lines that don't really come together until the film's third act. The first centers on resistance leader John Connor (Christian Bale), who is involved in planning a major offensive against the machines but is also confronted by the dilemma of how to save the humans held prisoner at the Skynet facility that is to be his target. The second plot line centers on the mysterious Marcus Wright (Sam Robinson) and his journey from the ruins of Los Angeles to the HQ where Connor is based. The third plot introduces us to the teenage Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn's character from the first film) and his adventures with and without Wright. Finally, there is a half-developed love story between Wright and a pilot for the resistance played by Moon Bloodgood.
It is no surprise that the action scenes are what consistently work best in this film, particularly in the first hour and in the climactic battle. Some of the chase scenes are simply breathtakingly exciting and the various machines that the characters have to battle are just awesome. The bleak post-nuclear landscape is strikingly depicted also. The middle part of the film sags quite badly however and the love story between Wright and Bloodgood seems forced and an obstacle to the progress of the bigger plot (which is pretty good otherwise). Another problem is that both Bale and Robinson bring a curious lack of charisma to their characters. It's hard to care about them and they both lack some of the humanity and vulnerability that made the previous films so exciting. All in all, this is a great popcorn movie and well worth seeing on the big screen. However it does not capture quite the same oomph that characterized it's predecessors.