Terminator Salvation was entertaining but fails to carry on the story behind the action

Rating: 6/10 (30 May 2009)

It's been twenty-five years since Arnold Schwarzenegger first donned a leather jacket and spoke the iconic words "I'll be back." And he certainly was. A lot can happen in twenty-five years. Sequels to the groundbreaking The Terminator sprang up, some good (T2) and some disappointing (T3), and then came the TV show. Somewhere in between Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines is Terminator Salvation. While it transcends the latter by miles, the fourth installment in the Terminator franchise does not come near to touching the original or, subsequently, T2, which I think has been the best Terminator film of, well, probably ever.
Terminator Salvation depicts the war of the machines and the struggle of the human survivors of Judgment Day. Roughly three interconnected story lines spring up over the course of the movie: John Connor (Christian Bale) as he helps the resistance against SkyNet; Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a convicted criminal who was executed in 2003 only to wake up in post-Judgment Day 2018; and Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), who is currently a teenager but, of course, later becomes father to John Connor. Though one would think that John Connor would dominate the film as the possible savior of humanity, the most compelling of the three stories is, in fact, that of Marcus Wright. While he does not upstage Christian Bale as many critics say, Sam Worthington provides the emotional heart of the film, however small that heart might be, and displays all the signs of a future star. His performance here is a solid basis for the endless hype and praise he has received from James Cameron, who so-called "discovered" Worthington and will direct him in the upcoming and much-anticipated Avatar. The rest of the cast is solid. No one particularly stands out but they all are satisfactory in their roles.
When people heard that McG, whose most renowned work thus far is the Charlie's Angels films, the general reaction was negative. I was inclined to give McG a chance, even though it was difficult to imagine anyone besides James Cameron successfully directing a Terminator movie, particularly after the third one (the first one not directed by Cameron) failed miserably. In the end, while T4 was quite a bit better than T3, I have to admit that perhaps my doubts were correct. The editing was mediocre, especially when compared to the other special effects that occupied the film. Also, while there was definitely enough substance to support a full-length movie, the story was made secondary to the action. The film-makers began to develop some of the characters, yet by the end, the majority of them ended up being rather flat. None of them were given clear backstories (except for, of course, John Connor, who was in two of the previous films) or definite motivations. Marcus was the most intriguing and I was hoping that they would provide more information on his background, about his life prior to being sent to jail, but I was disappointed. Fortunately, though the tone of the movie is decidedly grim, the occasional references to iconic aspects of previous films - T3 not included - might elicit smiles from fans of the original and its sequel.
Predictably, though, the most impressive aspect of the film is the ear-busting but dazzling action and visual effects. I say "visual" because, while there is a lot of CGI and computer wizardry involved, many of the most eye-popping explosions were actual explosions; for one particularly spectacular blow-up scene, McG and the crew detonated a real gas station. The trailer for Terminator Salvation promises a blood-pumping, action-filled summer blockbuster, nothing more, nothing less, and the movie delivers, in that aspect at any rate. The gritty, dark atmosphere and cinematography made the landscape truly feel as though Earth has endured an apocalyptic disaster, heightening the sense of gravity and immersing the audience in this bleak world.
In the end, that's all it comes down to. For those expecting an original, dramatic story with a well-developed plot and characters, perhaps this is not the best place to look. However, anyone hoping for an entertaining, visually appealing spectacle, then Terminator Salvation is just the thing for you.