Terminator Salvation (2009)

The Terminator series is a franchise that is never willing to go away yet takes forever to release a new film, something that's unheard of in an era where big budget franchises releases sequels like clock work every two years. Ultimately these long hiatuses have hurt the franchise rather than helped it, putting the series on a slow road to destruction. Terminator Salvation attempts to resurrect some interest in the never ending saga of Skynet and war against the machines, but is it a little too late?

Following the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation gives rise to the long awaited war between man and the machines. Skynet has supposedly taking over humanity and only a group of survivors known as the resistance attempt to take what little of a life they have left and put all their effort into regaining control. Lead by John Connor, the resistance has come across a carrier wave that appears to have some effect in shutting down the machines, making the task of destroying them much easier. If Connor can use this carrier wave to infiltrate Skynet's head quarters in San Francisco, the resistance might be able to deliver a heavy blow against the machines. But Skynet is one step ahead of them, they're aware of the resistance's carrier wave and are using it to lure them in. To do this Skynet has set their sights on capturing Kyle Reese, Connor's future right hand man and father. The capture of Reese weaves perfectly into Skynet's plan to lure Connor and kill him once and for all, a plan that contains many twists, turns and surprises.

Terminator Salvation, much like X-men Origins: Wolverine, breaks very little new ground in the series. The story is average, the acting is mediocre and the special effects are galore. At a budget of nearly $200 million the film really seems to have shot it's wad on big names, and big explosions which overall don't really add much more to a series that seems to have been worn into the ground. Christian Bale's performance is nothing to write home about, and in fact an actor with less of a name could have done a better job and for less money (and less onset drama). The film occasionally attempts to throw in familiar lines or phrases that were made memorable in past entries, but here they're only cheap attempts at trying to connect it to the franchise. I think the real reason the film seems out of place is the lack of the franchise's star, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzengger added a distinct presence and a subtle humor to the series which is clearly missing from this film. Even the CGI cameo of a younger Schwarzengger near the end of the film manages to slightly boost the film up a notch, it was amazing how realistic he actually looked, hopefully this is a taste of things to come.

Overall, Terminator Salvation isn't a complete waste of time, it's a slightly above average action film that has enough going for it to keep almost any action fan entertained. But as many critics have stated Terminator Salvation doesn't offer much in the way of a story, if that's what your looking for check out Star Trek. For me the film was some what on par with the original Terminator film in terms of overall enjoyment, it has it's moments but it's nothing to get too excited about. With that said maybe the fifth entry in the series, which is scheduled to be released sometime in 2011, will stand more on par with the franchises crowning achievement Terminator 2: Judgment Day. At least they're not planning to wait another 6-7 years as they usually do to release the next film, and hopefully the T-800 and the very realistic looking Arnold Schwarzenegger CGI clone will have more of a role in the next film. If they could get Arnold to do some voice overs it would really be quite entertaining to see a younger Schwarzengger back in the series, I think that's the only chance they have at truly bringing this series back to the level it used to be at.

7/10