Rating: 3.5/5

Terminator Salvation gets back to the basics of the storyline and fans won’t be disappointed. This installment of the franchise further develops mankind’s battle with the machines and does it with lots of special effects and noise.
We catch up with John Connor, played by Christian Bale this time, fully embroiled in his battle with the machines. He and Kate are married now and expecting a baby. The problem with Bale’s performance is its flat. He’s so similar to characters he’s played before like Quinn Abercromby in Reign of Fire or Bruce Wayne/Batman in the Batman series that I found it difficult to care about him or his struggle. He’s just another serious, brooding guy unable to display any other dimensions of his personality.
Relative newcomer to American films, Aussie Sam Worthington, in my opinion, steals the film. As Marcus Wright, Worthington brings a depth to his character which pulled me in and kept me rooting for him until the very end.
The story is well crafted, often nodding to preceding films in the series, making the experience more believable. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor is still a part of the story though the time-worn photo is all we see. Her distinctive voice is heard as her son continues listening to her tapes in an effort to glean clues about the future. Another cameo appearance, though probably done with CGI, is a surprise worth the wait. I particularly loved the irony in the John Connors/Kyle Reese aspect of the movie. In Terminator, Kyle Reese travels back in time to impregnate Sarah Connor so their offspring can presumably save the world. In Terminator Salvation it is John Connor who must save Kyle Reese so that he can go back in time and impregnate Sarah Connor.
Room has been left for another chapter in the saga. We still need to see Kyle Reese mature – he’s only 16-17 in this film. We need to know how the time travel thing develops and takes him back to find Sarah. Then the story will have come full circle. I would plop down my $7 to see that chapter too. As for the war with the machines, if John ultimately fails, there’s always the baby.