Scratching my head

Rating: 7/10 (28 May 2009)

After watching the film I was frustrated, confused, and chuckling.
Frustrated because it could have been a great movie - They had Christian Bale, an amazing actor, Sam Worthington, an upcoming amazing actor, flawless CGI and production set, realistic action scene...the elements are there. But they do not create synergy. Perhaps because I have seen tons of movies, I was constantly irritated by plot holes or 'monologue' that explains the story when it looks complicated (probably by a toddler).
Here is the list of part I had mumbled 'What the...' or 'Come on...'. It should be spoiler-free.

They mimicked the title sequence in the original Terminator, gradually revealing steel blocks which will comprise the movie title. It is easy to figure out, and after then, it is just a waiting time. You want realistic film? Get rid of title sequence.

They start with a long explanation of how the judgment day started. Like that one in Star Wars, minus classic music. The whole movie is almost for people who had already seen the movie, so my guess is someone previously worked with Uwe Ball was in the executive team and order to slap in a minute-too-long description. Such as in Alone in the Dark.

Helena Bohnam Carter wears a bold cap at some point. Makes her look like one of these mushrooms in Super Mario.

'Your heart is so strong'. One of the dialogs.

Apparently Christian Bale was injected Adrenaline during the whole shoot. That leaked rant was nothing compared to what really was going on.

We got Sony hand-held device used for some gimmick. Because they show SONY logo. As big as that Nokia in Star Trek. On a hand-held that is in the market but nobody has ever used.

The Terminators carry huge machine guns and are happy to tore humans apart whenever they can. Yet why on earth they need to 'abduct' humans and put them into a concentrate camp? Unlike Matrix, they don't feed on human energy. Terminate them all! Shouldn't they be?

I have just started warming up.
And tons of others. Bottom line - don't hold your expectation high, especially if you are looking for a survival story in a post-apocalyptic world with time-travel twist and thrill of not knowing who is the Terminator among us... that was what I was expecting, and it delivered for the first 10 minutes.