Why "salvation" ?

Rating: 2/10 (29 June 2009)

They have turned Terminator into a soap opera. There can be a Terminator 5, 6, 7, 8, .... simply because neither T3 nor T4 live up to the promises made by T1 and T2. And neither will T5 or T999.
We all know, that Kyle (and T-800-Arnold) must be sent back in time, because that's what happened in T1 and T2. It didn't happen in T4 either, so maybe in the next Terminator movie. Maybe. Unless it can be postponed, while the makers squeeze some money out of the audience.
The movie is so full of quotes from other movies (Matrix, Alien, even Mars Attacks), that it does not have an identity of it's own. What a shame.
The story is not well-told. It looks like, they scanned a computer program over a database of movies to see what works (sells) and what does not. "Hey, that lift-scene in Alien was good, we must use it too."
Why is Skynet so incompetent, that it is unable to protect it's own base a little bit better? After killing a few robots they are able to land on the roof with slow-moving helicopters ...come on! There are a gazillion other big holes in the story which simply makes it lack any credibility. There is not space enough on the internet to list it all.
I liked a few things, though. The Marcus man/machine (which could actually have been an interesting character, if they had had some story-writers not thinking like 12-year olds) was a good idea. He was even the main character. The rebellious bad guy turns good. The eternal conflict between good and evil - in most American films, the good side wins, because that sells better.
The CGI Arnold was expected. But I had expected to see a factory spawning Arnold's by the 1000's. They made one (1) which was shown for less than 20 seconds, and which was easily defeated. They only did it because they felt they had to, I guess. Maybe there will be more of them in T5, if they make T5.
COME ON, YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS. But these days, it is not about creating quality (not to say "art"), that the makers can be proud of. Everything is sacrificed, because the one and only thing that counts is revenue.
They re-write the script until the audience likes it enough ... no artist does like that. It's next to prostitution.
A shame and a big shame. It could have been an interesting movie.
And by the way - why is it called "Salvation ?" Nobody gets saved ... nobody even wins. The voice-over in the end clearly points out, that there will be a sequel and then another sequel and then a new one ...
Big-time disappointment. An insult to the fans. Be ashamed. Be very ashamed.