McG could've done better

Rating: 3/10 (19 December 2009)

Despite the absence of Arnold Schwarzenegger, I consider Terminator Salvation to be an improvement of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which remains the worst of the franchise. Nonetheless, it is still poor and fails to live up to the first two films.
When I heard director McG was chosen to direct the fourth sequel, my reaction was, "who and what is an McG?" I began to despair when I found out he directed Charlies' Angels, and I lost even more hope when I saw the trailer. Perhaps it wasn't his idea, but why the Motor-Terminators & Hydrobots? Whoever thought of those (even if it was Stan Winston) had obviously gone too far.
When I found out the plot would be set in the future, I remained optimistic as we've hardly seen much of the future war. But having seen the film, the future battles from the first two movies is more than enough. When I found out the theme is not Brad Fiedel's, I breathed a sigh of relief (better for Fiedel's theme to stay with the best). I wonder why the director chose to show the movie title twice at the start.
The film lacks original screenplay, with McG copying many notable actions, moments & lines from the first two. The mechanical sounds from the Terminator is similar to that heard in Transformers, not to mention a rip-off. Perhaps McG should direct Transformers 3, he deserves it.
It's also very disappointing to know that the role of the Terminator is very short, appearing only at the end. Was it really so hard for the writers to give Roland Kikinger a starring role, preferably in place of Marcus Wright but as the T-800 instead? Using Arnold's CGI face does not change anything, it was way too short as well. The only positive I can take from this film is that McG did not make a mockery of the franchise the way Jonathan Mostow did in T3.
The Director's Cut version does not change my opinion of this film, in fact it's worse. Kudos to McG for following in the footsteps of Jonathan Mostow, further ruining the franchise's reputation. Highly recommended for those who crave action and have low expectations though.