Better than T3...

Rating: 7/10 (12 August 2009)

I went to the film with modest expectations. I didn't think it would be anywhere as good as Terminator, or T2, but I hoped it would rise above the parody that was T3, and that it would be a decent action movie.
T4 was exactly that. It had a lot of issues, to be sure. The story was unfocused and split between John Connor, who would have been better off remaining a mysterious figure behind the scenes, and Marcus who should have been the main character. From what I've read, that was the initial idea for the film, but McG changed it to accommodate his star, which did nothing to improve the story.
To distance his film from T3 and Charlie's Angels, McG eschewed any trace of humor. I think that was a mistake. The touches of visual humor in T2 don't make the subject matter less serious but make the film more enjoyable.
There are quite a few cringe-worthy moments in T4: Marcus saving Bloodgood's character from bad men, and of course the time-honored and much-parodied Hollywood cliché of the bad guy revealing to the apparently defeated hero his/her/its evil plan in detail.
But even with all this, the film was watchable enough. Action scenes were well-done, and McG genuinely tried to bring it some emotion to the proceedings, although to a mixed result. The tone of the film was dark, as it should have been, and the 'factory' where captured humans were herded by the machines was truly sinister. Worthington and Yelchin were great, and Bloodgood was decent. Bale didn't have too much to work with, so he brought in a rather boring variety of angst to make a totally uncharismatic John Connor. Nick Stahl's John Connor looked ridiculous with his scar as the leader of resistance, and got overpowered by a vet (as in "veterinarian") but at least he was likable.
I'd grade this film between 6 and 7. Not something I'd rush to buy on DVD, but fun enough to go and see T5 if it gets made.