Less than successful sequel that disappoints those who wanted more

Rating: 7/10 (23 May 2009)

Terminator Salvation is very much a summer movie. Special effects, loud explosions, and over dramatic acting, ensure that Terminator Salvation is very much a movie that falls in line with other major summer releases. If you wanted a movie with good effects then this is the movie for you. If you wanted something more, well, then you will be disappointed.
John Conner (Christian Bale) is a member of the resistance. Humanity has been brought almost to extinction after the nuclear war launched by the computer Skynet and the later use of terminators and automated hunter killer aircraft. Along with his wife Kate Conner (Bryce Dallas Howard) the two struggle to not only stay alive but also to keep hope. John finds himself using old recordings his mother made during the 1980's and 1990's in order to keep his faith. Now that he is fighting the war he was always told to expect, he is finding himself tested in ways he never thought possible.
Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) was a death row convict in the year 2003. Before his execution, Doctor Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) arranged an organ donation so that he could perhaps have a second chance. However, as he feels the needle going into his arm, Marcus awakens and finds himself in a nightmarish world where robots hunt humans and where Los Angeles is in ruin. He meets a teen by the name of Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and a pilot named Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) who teach him how to survive this new world. Marcus then learns that he is not the human he once was and that he could be the greatest threat not only to Blair and Kyle but the human resistance as a whole.
The Terminator storyline is one that is well known so fans of the series can expect to see the future which the last three movies only hinted at. The world is desolate and death is everywhere. Director McG was able to give the impression of a world perhaps a little less evolved then that of Mad Max. We see how the resistance is controlled and how it deploys itself against Skynet not only in America but also around the world. Skynet itself is finally revealed in its true evil after Marcus, who we discover is a advanced cyborg which uses the organs he donated, confronts it.
The problem is that McG is unable to give the feeling of darkness and despair that the last three Terminator movies gave when it came to covering the future. Instead of massive ruins where skulls are crushed as if they were grains of sand, and large battles where small groups of humans find themselves overwhelmed by terminators, McG's future is one of hide and seek. The writing is good and the story flowed with no problems. The issue, however, is that it all feels superficial. This isn't helped by the use of explosions and special instead of dialog to keep the plot moving. McG's images of a San Francisco turned into a major Skynet facility and terminator production site is the best example of what the Terminator future should look like. It is a disappointing that he wasn't able to use more settings such as it to give a feeling as to what a world run by Skynet would appear.
Terminator Salvation is not a bad movie. The problem is that it felt rushed and the decision to use Marcus Wright as a cyborg locater feels hollow as does his sacrifice to save John Conner's life. There was the potential to go deeper into the human/robot question in terms of where does one begin and the other end by introducing the possible romance between Marcus and Blair. However, it is never really explored and thus it seemed almost unnecessary to have Marcus and Blair form the relationship they did.
The question is whether or not the next story will be able to surpass the disappointments within Terminator Salvation. There is reason to hope but the fans should demand something better.
7/10