This latest installment has more dust and metals, then bones and dread.

Rating: 5/10 (6 June 2009)

Terminator Salvation is a league of its own, in fact it feels like a movie that belongs to a different series. Despite it's cyberpunk legacy, Terminator Salvation feels like a war drama that happens to be set in a sci-fi post-apocalyptic future. Gone are the dark sky with red and blue rays penetrating the smoky horizon. This latest installment has more dust and metals, then bones and dread.
I think that's what missing from this movie: a sense of dread. Every time I watched the flash forwards from the original trilogy, they always had a grim sense of nihilistic dread. Even the comics of the 80's and 90's retain that sense of hopelessness and impending doom.
Terminator Salvation however took a different turn, and in most part it worked. The action, visual effects and plot were engaging. They may not be the best, but it's definitely worth watching the movie in the cinema.
McG seems to have a more mature film direction, and the re-polished script certainly helped gelled the characters more. I was wholly entertained and it was fun to watch several references to the previous trilogy, especially a delightful sort of a cameo by an 'original cast'.
I think the main problem of the movie is the lack of running time. It seems the movie would do better with more character developments, but unfortunately the action sequences were competing too hard for screen time. Otherwise, I would love to learn more about characters like Marcus, Blair, and Kate Brewster. Even John Connor himself didn't get enough screen time, except for yet more action scenes.
This is where the original trilogy shone, we got to know the characters well so it felt like we were walking the distance along with them. Whereas with T4, I felt that we were mostly just spectators.
Christian Bale and Sam Worthington have done a good job though, and I hope the sequels will be even better. One thing to note: the sub-plot with Marcus's character is inspired by a story arc by Dark Horse's Terminator comics published in the 90's.