Terminator Salvation

A little better than the third part, but not by much. McG’s direction is fine, so are the special effects and the performances (Worthington is great and Bale plays second fiddle with his unlikeable Connor), but the script is a shame. There’s a lot that happens without any clear cause or motivation, the characters don’t have a clue about many important things, but they don’t care and carry on. Of course, it’s effective and nice to look at (the scene of the attack on the petrol station is awesome), but the moment they start speaking, things go south. Phrases like "We must protect our future! ... I do it to save all mankind!" today feel like something out of an old B-movie, especially when they are uttered for no other purpose than being uttered, i.e. with no reason or factual logical connection to previous (and subsequent) events. To be clear, though, I’m not that disappointed, Salvation is a solid action flick, but it could’ve been a lot better. (04/06/2009)

An A-movie budget for a B-movie that takes itself way too seriously, and which would benefit immensely if the director, instead of watching the Transformers movies and War of the Worlds, had put on the original Terminator. (07/06/2009)

The world of a dark future, which Cameron only hinted at, which gave a sense of something unknown and which I never wanted to see on screen, so that its menacing atmosphere would not disappear. Exactly this world is brought to us by McG with Skynet and the Resistance Movement, and to my great relief, he manages to dispel all concerns already with the exposition. There are plenty of reasons to be joyful after all. Whether it's both the dignified opponents at the center of the action, the crucial supporting characters, or the gallery of Terminator villains. But above all, the feeling that the saga was meant to come to these moments. For the direct continuation, thanks to the feeling that something great is being born, I enthusiastically supported it. However, the reality was different. (08/06/2009)

The fourth Terminator is somewhere between the visual purity of T3 and the grandeur and fatefulness of T2. You can almost feel through the TV screen the physical action scenes, which have bombastic sound and precise editing. Similarly, the dirty and uncertain future is portrayed with appropriate dark music and excellent lighting. McG also treats the viewer to several knockouts in the form of brilliantly shot scenes and various camera tricks. But the last act is not good, with a finale that is logically simple, overly terse and in the context of the preceding events, not sufficiently epic. The characters are fine and technically gripping. It’s a pleasant bridge to the next installment, which I can imagine. (05/06/2009)

This film starts off as the coolest post-apocalyptic action orgasm since Mad Max 2. It takes only the names of the characters from James Cameron, while providing the well-cast Worthington/Yelchin duo with an interesting introduction. Terminator Salvation is engaging with its atmosphere, deadly new T600s and Transformer-like giants emitting sounds reminiscent of Spielberg’s Tripods. It is a great visual experience relishing its B-movie but extremely entertaining and spectacular take on the subgenre. BUT... in the second half, the creator of Charlie’s Angels seems to acquire the unfortunate impression that he can master Cameron’s reason-governed universe and starts to reference and alter it, and all of the enthusiasm for this film gradually evaporates. It seems like McG hasn’t even watched Cameron’s movies. At most, he has seen Scott’s Blade Runner, about which he was intrigued the most by fire lashing out of chimneys. P.S.: Worthington plays a more remarkable and important character than Christian Bale. (21/05/2009)