Terminator Fans might find it a Tad Disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (22 May 2009)

I've always been a fan of the Terminator series, T2 was one of the first films I can actually remember watching as a kid and comprehending the plot. As I grew older both Terminator films stayed a staple of my sci-fi cinema diet and both are landmark films in their own right.
Like a lot of people I was kinda bummed by T3, it was an okay film but a FAR cry from the first two so I was psyched for Salvation when I first heard about it, but as each successive trailer was released and the PG-13 locked into place I found myself worried that it would be a let down...
As it turns out its not as bad as I thought it would be, the action sequences are thrilling and gripping, the plot isn't all that bad and there's enough violence to make it R-Rated-ish... The acting also turned out surprisingly well with Sam Worthington (playing Marcus) and Anton Yelchin (playing Kyle Reese) being the two stand out performers. I swear there were times I Anton looked and sounded exactly like Michael Biehn who played Kyle in the original film and it was that fact (as well as a few other homages) that kept the hardcore Terminator fan in me placated...
But placation isn't the same as satisfaction, the film has its flaws, the bad language you'd expect in a post-apocalyptic world is suppressed by the PG-13 rating and Bale delivers an overly dramatic performance to a character we learn far too little about other than what we know happened to him as a kid... My other major complaint is the CGI used for the Terminators themselves, it really didn't look good and I found myself praying for them to go back to Practical Effects where things look solid and real...
Remember how relentless the Terminator was in the first film?? Well that is carried over here, these guys won't stop until their processor is dead, but since they're CGI for the most part it lessens the feel of real danger... Somewhere deep inside the Terminator fan in me was wishing to return to that dark skull covered gritty landscape we saw glimpses of in the first Terminator (this definitely isn't the future Connor's Mother warned him about)
Hardcore terminator fans might want to avoid this, it was better than T3 but still pretty far off the quality of the first two, still, if its a Summer Blockbuster you want then go see Terminator Salvation, you could do a lot worse...