I like it, but I can't help noticing

Rating: 6/10 (29 October 2010)

This fourth installment in the "Terminator" series tells the tale of how John Connor meets Kyle Reese, as well as the story of accidental (?) murderer Marcus Wright, who is executed in 2003, but somehow wakes up in 2018, unknowing of why, how or of what has happened to him. In the ruins of Los Angeles, he is saved from a T-600 by Kyle Reese and the mute girl Star, and after that joins them. By accident they overhear a radio broadcast from John Connor, and decide to find him, to join the resistance.
They find a filthy gas station filled with cowards, and while there, the Terminator answer to the Iron Giant finds them. Mysteriously, no one hears it coming, leading to it being lovingly nick-named "the Sneak-o-bot" among my friends. Once it's broken through the roof, it starts making one hell of a lot of noise, though. The robots have that going for them: They only make a sound when they're on-screen.
Some action later, Kyle and Star are taken by Sneaky, and Marcus joins resistance pilot Blaire, heading back to HQ and Connor. He earns her trust by taking out a gang of rapists threatening her. However, HQ is surrounded by magnetic mines, and when they cross the minefield, a mine goes bang. *gasp* Turns out, Marcus is a Terminator, too. Only he didn't know he was.
The rest of the movie is to no surprise about Connor and Marcus working together to free Kyle from Skynet.
Now, to what I can't help noticing: It seems Marcus is only absurdly strong when he knows that he's a robot. Remember the firefighter that couldn't even budge the T-800 in "Terminator 3"? Marcus throws a T-800 around like a beach ball, but somehow manages not to maul the rapist gang to bits during their fight.
Every terminator in the movie is explicitly trying NOT to kill Connor and Kyle. Every robot Connor encounters seems fully satisfied with throwing him around a bit. It is made clear in the movie that the order is to kill both of them, so how hard could it actually be to just grab their necks and squeeze? The robots have so many chances of killing them both that it's ridiculous, but none of them do. Well, except for the last one, who runs a metal bar through one of Connor's lungs, so that Marcus can nobly offer up his own heart and die. (What, you think there's another reason? Do tell.) I thought a heart transplant required finding a perfect match regarding blood and tissue types and then post surgery going through a special diet and eating medicine to prevent the body from rejecting the new heart, but I guess Marcus is the organ donor equivalent of the one-size-fits-all garment. Otherwise, putting his heart into John Connor would be about as effective as shoving a T-800 fuel cell in there.
By now, I guess you think I pretty much loathe this film, but I actually like it. I can watch it over and over again, even if I can't put my finger on the reason why. It's predictable, and the script leaves a few things to be desired, but it's pretty well made, rather well cast, the action is okay and the scenery and special effects are good. The often ominous score is very much fitting, and composed by one of my personal favorites, Danny Elfman.
All in all, entertaining.