Made by some fans for the fans...

Rating: 10/10 (4 July 2009)

I really expected a bad movie considering it was "Charlie's Angels" McG at the helm, but it actually had the same "B" movie feeling the other three had...I got the same great vibe from it I got from some '70s flicks like "Soylent Green" or "Omega Man"...intense stories augmented bu action and some interesting characters that don't necessarily need a lot of screen time to make their marks in the story.
The production was outstanding...this will a great demo disc on BR, especially with the sound design...very layered and intense. The special effects were great and everything from sets to make-up to costumes and photography was a step up from the earlier films, giving it an epic feel. It has a gritty look to the action that suits the setting and story perfectly. The physical action were really well done...it was refreshing to see some very convincing integration of the practical sets along with the now-standard CG stuff that blended well together and again, added an intense realism to the movie without being over the top. Stand-outs include the sensational "Harvester" chase scene and some "throwaway" moments like the HK air patrolling the streets of LA and toppling a building in it's wake and Connor jumping into the waves to meet the Resistance Leadership....cool, quick stuff that wasn't lingered on, but looked great.
Another surprise here is the choice of Danny Elfman, and his score sounds quite good...he gives the music a more traditional orchestral sound opposed to the over-use of synthesizers that many action films rely on these days. It was cool to hear Fidel's main motif pop in once in a while at just the right times.
Now the cast...as mentioned by many other reviews, this is definitely Sam Worthington's show...the story invests a lot of time in Marcus' journey through the film an it helps that Worthington does a really good job with his physical performance (especially with those little nods to Arnold's "stillness" along the way) and he comes across well acting-wise too. I found his struggle with what he really was provided the most poignant moments in the movie...a man trapped in a new existence as a Terminator, fighting to stay connected with his flawed humanity and looking for some kind of redemption for his own past and ending up providing a "salvation" for the resistance and it's new leader....cool stuff and an interesting twist on the whole "Terminator" story.
Bale was a supporting character compared to Marcus. Bale's John Conner seemed a little one-note with his performance throughout the film. There were some cool moments with him though, like when he pops on that GnR tune before capturing the MotoTerminator that brought back memories of the Connor character's motorbike stunts in T2. I also liked that it was pretty clear that not everyone in the resistance (most notably the higher-ups) though he was "all that", but the grunts in the trenches did...gave him an everyman appeal that was pretty cool. His best moments though, were the quiet ones...listening to his mother's voice for what must have been the umpteenth time to try and gain guidance and insight into the situations he found himself in...I thought that really illustrated just how much he really depended on that and how, by the end of the movie, he had to come out from his mother's shadow and come up with his own plan of action...his interactions with Marcus have altered his game and Bale did take us through that process...
Another show-stealer was Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese...he is almost literally channeling Michael Biehn (right down to talking through clenched teeth) as the young resistance fighter Reese. He really brought across the idea of a young man looking for someone or something to follow...and his interaction with Marcus really brought that out and Yelchin just nailed it.
Both of the female characters are a little short-shifted here, but both Howard and Bloodgood do a good job in the brief scenes they have. Neither come across as simple damsels-in-distress, rather it's plain to see that they both play important parts in the resistance.
Like the recent "Star Trek" picture, this one had a lot of visual nods (and some obvious lines) to the earlier films, from the cool opening credits looking similar to the ones the first film to a lot of physical gags from other movies as well, especially with Marcus. The action sequences were well-staged and packed some punch. And yes, the Arnold cameo featured some excellent work from ILM...very well integrated both visually and in the story....very cool.
The ending? The "leaked" one of having Connor killed and coming back as a Terminator might have been shocking, but ultimately it would have rendered the entire saga pointless. The current ending works much better in giving his character some dramatic pause as he goes on in how the war with Skynet is fought...the sacrifice of Marcus alters the future Connor has been expecting to unfold because of the messages from his mother...and now, the future is unknown and he has to lead the resistance based on his own judgment instead of the "road map" laid out by those recordings.
The main thing that really shines though in this movie for me is that it really looks like an effort by folks that really cared about the Terminator saga and wanted to do a great job. As with any of these "franchise" movies, there are always fans who disagree with the approach taken with the film or story elements or casting choices or whatever. But it works great for me...I hope this movie finds a big, receptive audience on DVD and Blu-Ray...