A Salvation 4 Terminator?

Rating: 7/10 (17 April 2020)

While i do rank Terminator: Salvation in last place in the Terminator franchise, this is by no means a bad movie, giving it a 7/10! the movie finally tries to show the post-Judgment Day future war we always longed to see since T1. the machines are perfectly executed, with the T-800 endoskeleton in the film's last act looking amazing - you can hardly tell which parts are CGI the practical effects look so good! the one thing i LOVE about this movie is that the film uses the original approach to making a Terminator film - using mostly practical effects and CGI sparingly, something Genisys and Dark Fate lack a bit. the Harvester machine and Hunter-Killers make my jaw drop everytime! in the middle of the movie John is shown still listening to You Could Be Mine after almost 25 years, i think that is a pretty neat callback to T2!
Christian Bale takes over the role of John Connor, previously portrayed by Nick Stahl as a young adult and Edward Furlong as a child. you really feel the stress and emotions the war has had on him! the late Anton Yelchin is perfectly cast as a teenage Kyle Reese, even looking a bit like a younger Michael Biehn!
my only problems with this film are:
*(minor) problem - the lack of the colon in the title.
*the film's PG-13 rating, rather than being R rated.
*the plot being a bit slow at times.
*the future war in this movie isn't the war-torn landscape with plasma lasers flying through the night. we are rather given a daytime desert landscape. Kyle specifically states in T1 that the machines hunt better at night, but this one takes place mostly during the daytime.
still - the film is an enjoyable one, and i would have loved to see the remaining 2 films of this trilogy come to fruition!