It has some problems, but it's not bad.

Rating: 6/10 (25 March 2011)

I enjoy the Terminator franchise. I like T1. I really like T2. To a lesser degree, I like T3 and TS, but I still like them. Before anyone asks, I haven't actually watched a full episode of the Sarah Conner Chronicles, so I don't have an opinion.
I don't fully understand why this movie got the negative press that it did. I was entertained.
First, let me discuss what didn't quite add up. The biggest problem for me is actually one that I haven't heard very much. A plot point of the story is that Kyle Reese has been targeted by Skynet, which of course spells trouble for John Conner since he has to send Kyle back in time or he won't exist. The problem: no explanation is given for Skynet to want Kyle terminated. In fact, the story would have worked better if he just happened to be captured by Skynet and John set out to rescue him because it would answer why Skynet doesn't actually kill him.
The movie has no real focus until the third act. There are several story lines going on, but none of them emerges as the main conflict until the final part when they all unify. This is more of a minor thing, but it annoyed me nonetheless.
This adds very little to the story arc of the franchise. Again, I haven't heard this one very often. Think about it. How much is actually accomplished in this story that affects the rest of the series? John meets Kyle (but not until the end), John gets more pull in the Resistance (which wasn't even a concept until this movie, so it just created its own problem for John to overcome), and John's attitude towards machines lightens up (admittedly, this is cool because it sets up for his reprogramming of the T-800 from his youth). That's it. That's not enough for a movie of this length.
A better situation would have been for the base at the end be the mainframe that John destroyed in the future which was so pivotal in the war and caused Skynet to want to terminate him. By simply doing this, the entire story is building up to that and thus has purpose in the overall series.
Huh. Anyway, this actually wasn't a bad movie. The acting was good, the story (beyond the weak points I noted) was good, and the special effects were good (though I really don't care). I would recommend that you check it out for yourself if you haven't seen it and don't listen to the naysayers.