Exiting entry to the series from McG with a winning performance from Sam Worthington

Rating: 7/10 (1 May 2010)

I will admit, upon hearing the news that McG (Charlies Angels 1 & 2) was going to be directing this I wasn't sure it was a good choice but I decided to give him a chance (after all look how many people doubted the choice of Heath Ledger as the Joker) and after seeing Terminator Salvation in the cinema I thought it was decent enough but nothing great. I decided to give it another chance on DVD and I enjoyed it a lot more, maybe its one of those that needs another viewing to appreciate it.
As soon as the film starts you know it is going to be nothing like the previous films and it has a totally different feel. We are introduced to Sam Worthington's Marcus Wright in a 2003 prologue which is very intriguing and before we know it we are in 2018 with Christian Bale as John Connor with the resistance trying to infiltrate a Skynet base.
These openings perfectly set up the films two leading men but it's Worthington's Marcus who emerges as the main character, he has most of the screen time and a much fuller story arc. It is well known that more story was added to Connor when Bale expressed an interest so maybe its not entirely surprising. Anyway, the opening battle sequence at Skynet is fantastic and McG creates a gritty war atmosphere that James Cameron hinted to in the previous films. Overall the production design of the destroyed landscapes are fantastic.
Other great action sequences include Marcus being ambushed by a T-600 in post-apocalyptic L.A., Connor's team wrestling with some Hydrobots (think mechanical anacondas) but the stand-out has to be an extended chase scene with Marcus, Kyle Reese and the young Star (Jadagrace Berry) facing back-to-back encounters with a spinning disc-like tracker, a massive Harvester, awesome Moto-Terminators and a Hunter Killer (seriously!). The whole sequence brims with excitement and kudos to McG for producing such a great scene.
TS also thankfully has a winning cast, Christian Bale brings his usual growl and intensity to John Connor and adds something totally different from the previous two films to the role. Anton Yelchin is perfect as a young Kyle Reese and is perhaps the most anticipated character to see in the next one, Moon Bloodgood deserves a mention as pilot Blair Williams as she makes a big impact for the amount of screen time shes given, her and Worthington also build a good chemistry. On that note, Sam Worthington as the mysterious Marcus Wright is my favourite character in the film, the Avatar man brings charisma and vulnerability to a role thats quite difficult to play because he isn't allowed to give too much away but he never comes across bland, there are also a few interesting twists along the way with him. Michael Ironside is good as always as the Resistance commander and has some fun exchanges with Bale. Unfortunately Bryce Dallas Howard and rapper Common don't really add anything, although they should get more screen time in future installments.
There are also tributes to the earlier entries which are good, there are many but to name a few are the use of "You Could Be Mine" by Guns 'N' Roses at a very apt time, the usual "Come with me if you want to live" delivered well by Yelchin and Bale utters the line "I'll be back" which is pure genius and totally unexpected (I remember the reaction at the cinema).
OK the film has a couple of minor hiccups such as the final sequence, don't get me wrong it's not bad but nowhere near as good as the big chase scene. Sorry if this is a spoiler but I wasn't that impressed with Arnie's CGI cameo, it seemed a bit of place and not really necessary. Just a thought but how much better and creepier would it have been if Bale stumbled into a production room and there were hundreds of Arnie's Terminator on a big production line not yet activated and ready to launch... would've been cheaper to do as well because they would just be still figures and in my view a much more effective way in introducing us back to the iconic original Terminator.
These are minor gripes however and huge credit must go to McG for bringing the Terminator franchise back to life and I can't wait for him to explore it even more (who were those figures behind the glass panel in the human camp? Is there human involvement in Skynet!?). I can't understand why this film got such a negative reaction in America and under the circumstances I think it is realistically the best film we could've asked for, if not very close. For the record it is way better than T3.
I wondered what was next for Terminator when Halycon went bust but Lionsgate are apparently close to obtaining the rights and if they do I hope they let McG and his team continue their trilogy and not do a pointless reboot of this one or the original. The future is in their hands now.