Terminator Salvation
Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood
Director: McG
Rating: 3/5
Many thought without Arnold Schwarzenegger in the central role Terminator Salvation would not really work but Christian Bale stepped up to the plate to take on the central role as saviour of mankind John Connor.
What's surprising is you don't have to have seen the past Terminator movies to get the gist this time around, which is always a bonus for people coming to a franchise for the first time.
Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators.
But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row.
Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
When it was released earlier this summer Terminator Salvation was totally savaged an, quite frankly, I really can't see why the barrage of criticism was necessary.
Salvation is a visual spectacle, which is what we have come to expect from the summer blockbusters, every second of this one hour fifty five minute movie really does look good.
But with Christian Bale really leading the cast the story really has been re-charged as we really get a good look at the war the human race faces after hearing so much about it in the previous movies.
Bale is great in the central role as Connor who tries to lead the resistance to victory but is more than aware of protecting the past.
For long standing fans of the franchise there are a couple of great little nod backs with a cameo from Schwarzenegger himself, the voice of Sarah Connor and the introduction of a very young Kyle Reese.
Sam Worthington is also great as Marcus Wright, part man part machine, but it would have been great to have seen Worthington share more screen time with Bale the fact that they don't spend too much time together makes it feel like two completely different stories.
But I do have to ask what was the point of Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate? She really brings little to the movie and you wonder why she was included in the story at all.
And while the machines do loom large over the movie, and look great when we get the chance to see them, they lack a sense of danger and the threat isn't always there.
There is no sense of urgency about the plot and then in return fails to create suspense and drama, under the end when McG finally give the action a kick up the backside.
The movie certainly doesn't deserve the criticism that has been thrown it's way over the past few months as it's a perfectly acceptable blockbuster, but you will have to admit that you have seen better.
Terminator Salvation is out now on DVD
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Terminator