A Sequel/Prequel That Works

Rating: 7/10 (23 May 2009)

In a nutshell, Salvation is a nice start to what will hopefully be a trilogy within the Terminator franchise that shows us the constantly mentioned but briefly shown War Against the Machines. With old and new characters and allusions to the previous films, as well as unprecedented action sequences, it proves to be quite a ride. If you come in with limited prior reservations, you will not be very disappointed.
John Connor is NOT YET leader of the Resistance (I'd assume he's the equivalent of an army captain), but to many is it's spiritual leader. This allows for more drama between himself and the hard-line top commanders like General Ashdown (Michael Ironside), as well as character development. He is not sure what to do, even with limited advice from Sarah Connor's past messages. Marcus Wright complicates things even further, and he is brought to the breaking point.
What sells this movie is the fact that it is a turning point in the War, with the introduction of Kyle Reese to John Connor and vice versa, which is integral to the storyline (for those of you who do not know, Connor sent Reese back in time to prevent the death of his mother by a Terminator unit in 1984, and secretly to meet and fall in love with Sarah Connor and procreate John). It is also a new storyline about Marcus Wright, who thinks he is a long dead executed convict who died in 2004. At the beginning of the movie, he signs a document allowing Cyberdyne to use his body for "research", later revealed to be so he could become a Terminator unit for a specific reason. The well-crafted plot flows rather smoothly and keeps your attention and, for fans, fascination as to how the dramatic irony plays out.
Though not a perfect epic, this film captures a lot of what I at least envisioned John Connor and the War. Skynet is unbelievably bigger than ever before, and an old friend makes a cameo (sort of) in one of its headquarters. In the end, a minor victory is won, as expected. But the best part about it is that the War rages on, and we can only imagine what will be thrown John Connor's way next, though we think we know what will eventually come to pass. It's like he says, repeating his mother, in the last line of the film: "There is no fate but what we make."
This is Rudy Altergott. If you're reading this, you are the Resistance.