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Let's get this straight: the final Terminator film was the second instalment. The story ended there. Any subsequent productions purporting to continue the franchise - both in cinemas and on TV - are Terminator in name only. Of course, it could be different if James Cameron returned to the science-fiction mythos he created, but the likelihood of that is remote, if not outright impossible. But the fact that the non-Cameron efforts cannot truly claim to belong to the same series (no matter what the studio marketing department would have you believe) does not preclude them from being good as separate entities in their own right. T3, though hardly awful, was far from stellar, a virtual retread of the premise for T2, just with a female Terminator and a downer of an ending (one of its better virtues). Jonathan Mostow, who directed T3 competently if anonymously, has been replaced for T4, or rather Terminator Salvation, by the dreaded "McG", he of the infamously dire Charlie's Angels films. A disaster of positively Judgment Day-esque proportions seemed to be on the cards, but thankfully, such an eventuality has been averted, at least where real life is concerned.
In film terms, however, Judgment Day has well and truly happened. Salvation is the movie many a viewer of the first two films would have salivated over at the time: a film entirely devoted to the future war between man and machine. John Connor is played by Christian Bale, the fifth actor to inhabit the part (including The Sarah Connor Chronicles). The film divides its attention between Connor and new character Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington, who struggles to rein in his Aussie accent, and is soon to appear in Cameron's much anticipated Avatar), a mysterious outsider, who meets up with Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, fresh from Star Trek), the father-to-be of John Connor, in the nuke-ravaged ruins of LA. Follow? It is one of the film's principal shortcomings that it never settles on one plotline. The roots for this failing can apparently be traced to Bale, who was initially offered the Marcus role but was drawn to Connor instead. Connor, though, was a minor presence in the script, so his part needed to be beefed up. With this knowledge, it's unsurprising that Bale's role both feels occasionally superfluous and underdeveloped.
Indeed, the word "underdeveloped" could apply to several elements in the film, not least several of the character arcs. Yelchin's Reese is hugely enjoyable in the film's early stages, but turns into a mere plot device in the third act, with no character pay-off. Meanwhile, Moon Bloodgood's Blair seems to be shoehorned in just to give Marcus a romantic subplot, but it never goes anywhere and the actress is mostly wasted. McG - real name Joseph McGinty Nichol, which he really should revert to if he ever wants to be taken seriously - has evidently been studying the Cameron oeuvre, because the Terminator films are not the only ones referenced; particularly, Aliens at times seems a major source of inspiration. McG also seems to have watched Transformers, because here the machines boast a giant person-harvesting contraption, complete with leg-sprouting robot motorbikes - that could pass for Megatron's long lost brother. The design seems out of place, but admittedly it does make for a thrilling action-packed chase.
Action is certainly one of the film's main strong suits. The aforementioned wasteland chase, which segues into an aerial dogfight, is a highlight, and so is the energetic opening involving an assault by the human Resistance on a Skynet (machine) outpost. The film concludes with a man vs. terminator mano-a-mano that almost manages to replicate the intensity that pervaded Cameron's films, even if, with its industrial setting and attempted freezing and melting of the baddie, it some times seems more rip-off than homage. It certainly helps that the CGI is straight out of the top drawer, and McG combines it with some creative camera moves (as in the early helicopter crash, which is made to seem like one seamless take). Also the production design is excellent, creating a post-apocalyptic world that is simultaneously bleak and visually interesting. It is a shame that the early promise - the first act is particularly strong - is not quite sustained throughout, due to the muddled narrative and some clumsy scenes, such as the lump of exposition as the finale nears.
The summary
Against the odds, McG delivers a highly enjoyable and visually arresting popcorn treat. Some agonising faults just prevent it reaching its full potential.
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