there's potential here but the execution is lacking

Rating: Null/10 (30 May 2009)

The year is 2018; the setting is a bleak, post-apocalyptic world that has been ravaged by an ongoing war between humans and the deadly machine empire Skynet. John Connor is a scrappy and resourceful survivor who's prophesized as the chosen warrior to lead the resistance and defeat the machine empire, but in order to do so he's going to have to live long enough to find and protect Kyle Reese. The threat of annihilation grows with each passing day, but Connor finds help from an unlikely source. What could've been a worthy addition to the Terminator franchise is unfortunately weakened by unappealing characters, uninspired performances, lazy dialogue, and shaky direction that fails to add any real tension to its numerous action scenes. Shows signs of life with an exciting finale, but the film seems to be lacking a certain spark and would have benefited from stronger acting. Bale—strangely—is fairly cardboard as the heroic leader, but not even his best performance could make up for all of the film's shortcomings. **