Fanally, a movie to make me feel better about T3!

Rating: 1/10 (12 December 2011)

Okay, let me preface this by saying 3 things. 1) I'm not a rabid fanboy that thinks this series is epic in any way. 2) I'm not a hater of science fiction, even bad science fiction. 3) I don't think that you can add a spoiler to something that's already spoilt.
That being said, there won't be any spoilers here just because I don't care enough about this movie to really go in any sort of depth. So why am I writing this? Maybe it's to gently remind people that this is a movie about killer-robots from the future. It's not art, folks. It's not the epic statement of humanity in our time.
Where this movie fails, is that it's completely forgotten it's roots. The first 3 movies in the series didn't take themselves too seriously. At least the first and third didn't. The second one was practically pompous by comparison. Still, Terminator 2 was still somewhat aware that it was a science fiction film wrapped around a chase scene. That's where the excitement and fun came from. There was also a lighter side. The suspense was tempered by a self deprecating sense of humour. That's where Terminator Salvation fails.
Terminator Salvation is a movie that forgets it's roots. All of them. The chase sequences are tired, there is no humour, there is no self awareness. Instead we're given bleak. It's almost as if director McG sought out new sources of bleak to throw in as a substitution for depth. There's nothing to frighten, or challenge or even lightly amuse the audience here, only dirt, sludge, grime and stern looks.
Christian Bale truly shows his range as an actor. He has none. He glowers, glares, and gives us vacant grimaces as he tries his best to look like a killbot from the future. I'm guessing no one told him he wasn't playing the terminator. It's a tragic thing when you're out acted by a killbot.
The special effects aren't anything we haven't seen before. The plot is really little more than a chase across some landscape which, I may point out, was done better in the previous 3 movies of this franchise. The characters don't really need names, you won't remember them anyway. The direction and writing go from lazy to comatose and it's really difficult to say anything positive about this straight-to-video theatre release.
If this is the salvation of mankind then bring on Judgement Day.