The movie that T3 should have been, and far better than we could have expected.

Rating: 9/10 (4 June 2009)

What a pleasant surprise Terminator Salvation is. Director McG can now be defined by this movie rather than his Charlie's Angels flicks.
Playing somewhere between Aliens and Transformers, this robot monster mash-up is non-stop and relentless. Action sequence follows action sequence, with a great sound mix - at times you are literally gasping for breath, particularly with a chase through the desert followed by Terminator motorbikes. There's loads of visual and dialogue nods to the previous two decent movies (T3 seems to be wisely avoided, though strangely these are the same screenwriters) and it's left nicely open for further instalments.
Bale is very growly and Batman-ny, but it's not really his film. The real star is Sam Worthington as mysterious Marcus. Imagine an Arnie that can actually act! Star Trek's Chekhov (Anton Yelchin) is also great as the young Kyle Reese, and even a cute kid character doesn't do anything too annoying. Oh, and even the iconic Brad Fiedel five-note boom boom boom - boom boom Terminator theme is present and correct to remind you that this is the real deal.
The movie is dedicated to Terminator supremo Stan Winston, and I can't think of any better way to honour his great legacy of effects work. With five or six different Terminator models on display and some fab aerial stuff, this is the film that T3 should have been. True, you do spend time wondering which was the scene when Christina Bale lost his rag, but considering how extreme and tense the whole movie is, you can kind of forgive him.