OK but should've been far better

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2009)

The year is 2018 and a mysterious stranger awakens in a world devastated by nuclear war. He searches for John Connor, a fighter in the Human resistance against Skynet, the intelligent AI that waged war on mankind and brought it to the brink of extinction many years ago.
The fourth film in the Terminator series is a competent action blockbuster but lacks any visual excitement or drama for the most part. It's an empty vacuous emotionless summer film that has become all too common in the last ten years or so. And, as always with these things, the fault lies not with the execution (McG does an amiable job with what he's given) but with the script.
It starts intriguingly in 2003 and introduces us to death row prisoner Marcus Wright who is persuaded to donate his body to medical science. However this would be an intriguing start if it wasn't for the fact that the mystery surrounding our new character was blown during promotion for the film in one of the trailers. And it's because of this I think the film lacks tension and drama and is one of its failings. Most of us will be aware that Marcus Wright is a hybrid Terminator going into the film so when the revelation comes halfway through for John Connor it has no impact whatsoever. Now admittedly it's very hard to keep anything a secret with the Internet these days. Spoilers abound everywhere and it's difficult not to know about a movie before you go and see it. But when the success of your film hangs on a major plot development twist like this then you're smartest thing is not to reveal the twist in a trailer. Sure the fanboys may leak it on a few internet sites but you don't blow your major plot point to the general public. And as a result of the cat being let out of the bag, the mystery just isn't there to engage the audience.
Another failing of the script (one all too common among blockbusters) is that you don't care for the main characters. John Connor should be a man laid heavy by the burden of being prophesied the saviour of mankind and frustrated at not being taken seriously by the Resistance command but they waste that aspect of the character and fail to capitalise on that concept, Bale just seems to be doing his gruff angry voice routine once again. Bryce Dallas Howard is wasted as Kate Connor, John's wife who is expecting their child. In fact it's not even mentioned in the film that she's pregnant, just shown. The couple have little contact and little chemistry in their scenes together. You should feel for them as they struggle to come to terms with bringing a child into this world but its wasted. The rest of the resistance are the usual bunch of cyphers but even less interesting, even the much praised Moon Bloodgood has little to do and little screen time.
It seems like I've tore apart this film but there are plus points. Anton Yelchin is absolutely fantastic as a young Kyle Reese (and virtually unrecognisable from his comedy Chekov in Star Trek), Sam Worthington does a good job of looking confused and the bit with the Arnie T-800 is very cool. The gritty production design also can't be faulted.
However a Terminator film set during the future war should be a rip roaring roller coaster ride of a movie. It should be like the Universal Studios attraction T2-3D but larger, bolder, more brutal and brasher with added character, you should be able to care for the hero not just watch him idly go about his gung ho business. Instead we have a washed out, bleached look of a film that dictates that you should have a huge explosion on the screen every 15 minutes or so.
It should've been so much better 7/10