Terminator: Salvation

Terminator Salvation - with Sam Worthington and Christian Bale

Fans of the Terminator series will tingle will with delight at this latest instalment, seeking to reboot the franchise post-judgement day, but does it work on the whole? 

Finally, we are privy to the destruction of man and his fight against the machine. It’s the age old warning of machines developing minds of their own on a grand scale. Christian Bale takes up the role of the saviour John Connor, but he is not the main leader yet. Instead, a makeshift military operating from a submarine are striving to find a way to take down the machines. And it seems they find it, an “off-switch” in a radio-frequency. In addition to this, Sam Worthington plays mystery man, Marcus Wright, who was on death row but essentially frozen by science and now awakes to a post-apocalypse world.

Both John Connor and Marcus seek out Kyle Reese (who in the first Terminator saves Connors Mum and is the father of John) and other time-line links are set into place, like Arnie(!) and notable catchphrases. In the end, the secret radio-frequency turns out to be a trap and the military is destroyed, leaving John as the leader of the resistance. I won’t spoil the twist in the Marcus Wright character but John discovers that they have been enemies “since either of them were born”. It’s safe to say that a sequel is in the bag with John Connor getting a new heart after fighting the newly created T-800 and stating that the war isn’t over.

Some hardcore fans might be too busy scrutinizing the timeline and plot holes to just sit back and enjoy this, but for those familiar with the franchise and looking for a good action romp it will no doubt satisfy their needs. Sam Worthington is the standout actor betrayed by science in a physical way, but Christian Bale (after giving the Batman series a boost) plays the same gruff voiced, moody hero and falls a little flat.

If T3 was short on plot then this is definitely a successful reboot with another McG directed Terminator in the works. There is nothing special to be had here, but there are decent action sequences and some geekishly satisfying elements. The old Terminators aren’t bested but we hold out hope that they will be...soon!

Terminator Salvation website
 

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