Rating of
3/4
"Terminator Salvation" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/06/12
A man on death row donates his body to science, little knowing he would wake up in the middle of a war between mankind and machine. The fourth film in the Terminator franchise, Salvation is set after the bombs have dropped and as such is the one a large proportion of the terminator fan base has been wanting pretty much since the beginning. Lifting some ideas from Robocop and even the Battlestar Galactica series, the newest addition to Skynet's arsenal is a bit of a stretch to the credulity but I think this (like Rise Of The Machines, Alien Resurrection etc) is the kind of film that depends entirely on how you approach it. You can pick holes in the plot if that is your wont, but I personally preferred to sit back and enjoy the ride. The cast aren't exactly inspired but to be honest they didn't really have much to do as the special effects are definitely the stars of this film. There is some really cool production design adding some different types of terminator to the mix and the action sequences are really well done. It adds some references to the earlier films that try to keep the continuity (seeing the young arnie terminator was a nice touch) which were done with a hell of a lot more subtlety than the incredibly dumb Star Trek revamp. It did miss a focal baddie in the vein of Arnie or Robert Patrick, and the lack of a time travel element made it feel more like a generic sci fi actioner than a terminator film. The rather ham-fisted ending also unfortunately seemed to be setting up yet another sequel, which I can't help thinking would be a BIG mistake as the idea is definitely running on fumes now. As a whole I think that if you want to like it you will, and if you don't you won't. I wanted to and I did.
