Acceptable sequel lacking emotional impact

Rating: 6/10 (4 June 2009)

Finally, we get a Terminator movie that explores what happens during the actual war between the machines and the humans, a movie taking place during the apocalyptic glimpses seen in previous films. Was it properly exploited? Read on to find out.
The action scenes were decent but were sometimes difficult to follow being victims of shaky camera-itis. Maybe it's just me but I didn't find them very thrilling either except for a few. Props to the helicopter crash scene from the pilot's perspective though. The visual effects were of high quality and the terminators never looked so good with a bigger variety than ever before although I'm still not sure about the moto terminator concept. For what might seem like more primitive terminators (in Los Angeles), please consider that the terminators seen in other films were from farther into the future. The sound effects were quite good especially the thuds from the bigger machines. Storywise, I found the plot had a few great ideas that weren't satisfactorily explored or explained, particularly Marcus' past and why the terminators started taking human prisoners instead of continuing to exterminate them. They didn't show us what actually happened and it felt like a missed opportunity. Certain plot elements didn't seem to make sense at the time and it bugged me throughout. I thought I was being difficult but after reading a few of the lower-rated reviews, I do indeed see there are major plot holes (especially involving Kyle Reese).
More importantly, certain moments lacked the dramatic or emotional impact they should have had. In particular, there's a cool moment near the end I cannot specifically mention where you think to yourself "holy crap! did they actually do this!" only to be drastically minimized just afterwards (you thinking, "how lame") and then brought back later in a different location when the dramatic impact was already defused. The finale, which should have been heart-wrenching, simply flat-lined on an emotional level. The dialogs were mostly lackluster and seemed to like stating the obvious (Evasive maneuvers!). I liked the characters of Kyle Reese and Marcus and thought they were played well but although Christian Bale was his usual intense self, he didn't portray the quieter moments convincingly. He seemed one-dimensional.
Visually, the colors seemed bleached out making everything look grittier and gloomier. I understand the reason why but I didn't particularly care for it. The production design and settings were OK but weren't particularly original or memorable (nowhere near the skull-covered grounds of previous films). I was also disappointed at the lack of full-scale military engagements between machine and human. The actual "war" you might have expected from trailers was not really shown, it was mostly skirmishes or duels. Overall though, it's a good sequel lacking the heart and emotional core of the others. If you've seen the previous films, you'll want to see this, perhaps not worth full price in theaters, but try not to think too hard about logical inconsistencies and to enjoy the action/visual effects for their own sake. If you haven't seen the previous films, you might be lost and I would recommend watching at least one Terminator film before (I would say Terminator 2, the highlight of the series).
Rating: 6 out of 10. Click my name above to read my reviews of the other Terminator films