Whereas the original Terminator films revolved around stopping Judgment Day from ever occurring, inevitability dictates that this goal was futile. And as Terminator Salvation opens, we find out that the Earth has been ravaged by the after effects of the prophesized day finally taking place. But the elusive John Connor (Christian Bale) has yet to become the messiah he was born to be: he is merely a member of the resistance against the machines, and is on the lookout for his father, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin).

I doubt James Cameron ever had a film like Terminator Salvation in mind as he was making his influential “first” film The Terminator or the absolutely legendary Terminator 2: Judgment Day. This fourth film in the franchise can only dream of truly being compared to those two films: it is not a bad movie by any stretch, but unfortunately it is not very good either.

The film does what it can to salvage the pieces of Jonathan Mostow’s incredibly underwhelming Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and for the most part, it does so valiantly. Wiping the camp 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 desert, dank sewer living spaces, and gigantically vacant industrial spaces let the audience know they are not in for anything vaguely resembling escapism. While many of the set designs and features sample from more notable films (Mad Max and Blade Runner specifically), there is enough desolation and despair sprinkled throughout that it manages to not feel like it is totally ripping off its influencers. The addition of little homages and references to the other films in the franchise was a very nice touch.

The special effects and makeup are even better. The action borders on the lunacy of Michael Bay, but never manages to feel like it is overdoing it. Instead, it manages to stay in check and at a driven pace. While we have seen explosions on a grand scale like this previously, the fights between humans and Terminators is something we only got to see hints of. Here, we get extended scenes of mayhem between the Resistance and the dozen or so different kinds of Terminators attempting to eradicate them. While a few scenes could have been looked a bit better, the majority is handled excellently and looks great. The makeup is even more astounding, and has never looked more realistic. While nothing will ever stun the way the T-1000 still does today, some of the effects here come pretty close.

But in being a bombastic summer blockbuster, Terminator Salvation’s successes can only go so far.

The story is quite simply, a mess. Leaving aside the continuity errors (as they have always plagued the series from the beginning), the film never manages to remove itself from the mindset of wanting to be the beginning of its own series. Not once does it even attempt to be its own unique work. I will give it credit for miraculously not relying too heavily on the previous films for help, but it does not work in the film’s favor. Characters are introduced at incredible speed, but none of them are given any backstory or motivation for their actions (outside of Connor, whose motivations practically write themselves at this point). We know they hate the machines, and we know they have continued 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 all of the elaboration was either chopped out during editing or just not even bothered to be added in the first place. The R-rated cut adds nothing of the sort, so I am inclined to think it never existed.

I realize that starting a series (or in this case, rebooting and reinvigorating a series) is not an easy task. But if you are going to make it obvious that you plan to milk another two films out of this at very least, you need to make an effort for people to latch onto characters that they will give a damn about. If there is zero development here, then what hope is there for development in the future? It all feels so arbitrary and silly (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 outside of the hope for brand loyalty.

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 nothing more 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 allowed anything really meaningful to do. Yelchin seems uneasy as Reese, and never gets a chance to really make anything of the integral franchise character. He comes off as way too immature and just seems inappropriate for the 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 given to every role he has ever done, but it just does not pay off the same way it did for Batman and Patrick Bateman. This character was never written or intended to be at the level Bale’s performance demands of it, and it shows in how he plays the character to be something he is not. 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 know a lot of people dislike him as an actor, but I still think he was the absolutely best thing about this film. He is its lifeblood, and is an absolute marvel from start to finish. This film came out mere months before Avatar irrevocably destroyed box office records around the world and made him a sought after superstar, and you can tell watching this film that he is on the cusp of stardom. His Marcus Wright is the most interesting new character, and Worthington breathes a vivid life into every scene he appears in. Wright was quite obviously where the most effort went while the script was being written, and it shows at every turn. His performance is electric, and he steals the show from everyone. It is a real shame that the marketing team totally ruined any semblance of surprise over his key contribution to the film.

While there is quite a bit done right in Terminator Salvation, there is just as much done wrong. There is a reason the plans for a fifth film stalled since this one was released, and watching it will tell you exactly why.

But at least it made up for the third film, right?

   -- David Baldwin