Terminator Salvation does not save the franchise but instead leads it down a dark generic apocalyptic tunnel.

Rating: 4/10 (29 June 2018)

McG. Really? That was the best director you could obtain to act as your salvation for this franchise? Mc-flipping-G!? Christ. Let me clear something up, Salvation isn't necessarily a bad film. If it wasn't attached to a franchise it would work quite well, but alas it's got the old Terminator name magnetically attracted to the title and so was doomed from the start. Set after 'Judgment Day', John Connor leads the resistance and encounters Marcus, a miraculous survivor who was condemned to a death sentence, who claims that John's past father Kyle Reese is captured by Skynet. Blah blah blah, convoluted convoluted convoluted, makes little to no sense. Ever since the third chapter, the whole paradoxical storyline is illogically derivative that each instalment just adds to the complexity of the plot. Instead of focusing on John Connor, which is clearly the strongest element to this story played aggressively by Bale, we are introduced to Marcus. A character, that was utterly destroyed by the terrible marketing (I mean that trailer...), who's sole purpose is to convey the message of the film. Illustrating the boundary between the end of humanity and the start of artificial intelligence. Good intentions, but executed heavy handedly. Plus, considering he is supposed to be a conflicted personality, my word is he ridiculously uninteresting. Worthington, Yelchin and Bonham Carter all give fine performances, but the expositional script prevent them from shining through the rusty apocalyptic environment. Bleak, dingy and dull, nothing here has life. The action set pieces, again, were fine and completely watchable. The visual effects for the most part are decent, where the sound mixing of robotic noises really elevate the futuristic world. Despite these "fine" neutral points, it's a generic film that feels generically generic in all its full genericism. It serves absolutely no purpose other than to consume your time with flashy futuristic action set pieces. Salvation, you've been terminated.