Not terrible, but imperfectly balanced by lots of good and bad

Rating: 7/10 (22 May 2009)

Unlike the previous three films, Terminator Salvation takes place in the future well after Judgment Day has ravaged the earth. John Connor (Christian Bale) is only a member of the resistance against the machines yet, but is on the lookout for his future father, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin).
While it is not as good as The Terminator and can barely even be mentioned in the same sentence as the legendary Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator Salvation is really not a bad movie. But it is not a great movie either.
The film does what it can to salvage the pieces of Jonathan Mostow's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and for the most part, it does so valiantly. Wiping the camp and the ridiculousness of its predecessor away, Terminator Salvation settles post opening credits right into the gritty and dystopic nature of the first two films, only amped up considerably. The purely visual McG and his crew make it crystal clear that the future is bleak and depressing. Barren wastelands of deserts, dank sewer living spaces, and huge industrial spaces let the audience know they are not in for anything on the lines of escapism. While many of the set designs and features sample from more notable films (such as Mad Max and Blade Runner), there is enough desolation and despair sprinkled throughout that it manages to not feel like it is as clearly ripping off others as it is. Adding little homages to the original films was also a very nice touch.
The special effects and makeup are done one better. The action borders on the lunacy of Michael Bay, but manages to stay in check and at a driven pace. Watching the hundreds of explosions, and the fights between humans and terminators is something that was never really done at this level before, but the film handles it excellently. The makeup is even more astounding, and has never looked more realistic. Never once was there a question of how fake anything looked (unlike the recent X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and each effect seems to one-up the next. Some of the set pieces are eye-poppingly well done, and while nothing will ever stun the way the T-1000 still does today, some of the effects here come pretty close.
But these successes, in making a bombastic summer blockbuster, can only go so far.
The story, quite simply, is a mess. Leaving aside the continuity errors (as they have always plagued the series incessantly), the film just never gets out of the mindset of wanting to be the beginning of a franchise. Never once does it want to be its own unique work. It manages to not rely so much on the previous three films rather miraculously, but this does not work in its favour. Characters are introduced at incredible speed, but none of them (outside of Connor, whose motivations practically write themselves at this point) are given any backstory or motivation for their actions. We know they hate the machines, and we know they have all continue to persevere through horror and tragedy since Judgment Day. But that is it. We are merely given strict, one-dimensional character outlines for this crew of fighters (and at least one notable villain), but it feels like stuff was either chopped out during editing or just was not even bothered to be added in.
I realize that starting a franchise off is not an easy task. But if you are going to make it obvious that you plan to milk at least another two films out of this, you need to at least make an effort for people to latch onto characters that stick. If there is zero development here, then what hope is there for development in the future? It all feels so arbitrary and silly after awhile (and not helped by the cheat of an ending), that you begin to wonder why they even bothered making the film in the first place.
With as little as they are given, it is a little unfair to pick on the supporting cast. Bryce Dallas Howard and Common are given little else than the ability to move the plot from moment to moment. Michael Ironside, Moon Bloodgood and especially Helena Bonham Carter are interesting characters, but are never given anything really meaningful to do. Yelchin seems uneasy as Reese, and frequently appears way too immature in the integral role.
Bale on the other hand, is a bit underhanded. We can see that he is putting in the same intensity here that he has in every role he has ever done, but it just does not pay off the same way it did for Batman and Pat Bateman. He just never gets out of the mindset of wanting the character to be something he is not. This character was never written or intended to be at the level Bale's performance demands of it. It is always undercut, and it always feels lacking. This character may eventually fulfill a prophecy, but Bale's hokey monologues and forceful delivery of some lines is too good for what this character should have been.
That leaves me with Sam Worthington. I have tried to stay as far away from talking about him as I can, because he is the lifeblood of this film. The little known Worthington is an absolute marvel from start to finish. Marcus Wright is the most interesting new character, and is the best thing about the film. Worthington breathes a vivid life into every scene he is in, and is clearly where the most effort went when the script was written. He is just impossible to take your eyes off of. It is truly a shame that his key trait was spoiled by the marketing team.
While there is a lot to like about Terminator Salvation, there is a lot to not like as well. It is imperfectly balanced, but at least it was not terrible.
7/10.