Terminator Salvation (2009)

O Masterpiece

O Excellent

X Good

O OK

O Mediocrity

O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / May 21, 2009

Throughout the “Terminator” movies, our perception of the present is relative, due to the series’ shifting focus on various dates in time. The first three “Terminator” films are mostly set in the past (pre-Judgment Day), with brief glimpses of a nightmarish future, circa 2029. But “Terminator Salvation” primarily takes place in a war-torn 2018, after Judgment Day has occurred and the remnant of humanity is raging against the machines.

John Connor (Christian Bale) is ascending to become the leader of the worldwide resistance, as he carefully listens to his mother’s instructional cassette tapes and prepares for the day when he’ll dispatch Kyle Reese back to 1984. Meanwhile, the machines and the resistance unleash devastating plots in hopes of checkmating their enemies.

Above all, “Terminator Salvation” is a war movie whose dingy, industrial production design echoes Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” (1927), an early sci-fi film that’s also a futuristic portrayal of human misery borne from technological advancement gone awry.

Those who say “Salvation” is an orphan among its predecessors haven’t seen the trilogy recently. Revisiting the preceding movies will enhance your understanding and appreciation of this new film. Still, some fans will no doubt be disappointed with the new installment, since it’s not a hunt-and-chase movie like the others.

James Cameron — the director of “Aliens,” “The Abyss” and “Titanic” — co-wrote and directed “The Terminator” (1984) and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991). Without question, those first two films are the best of the series, which attests to Cameron’s filmmaking prowess.

The 1984 film is excellent because a human chases a cyborg 45 years back in time to protect another human. The 1991 film is great because a familiar cyborg follows a more advanced robotic assassin back in time to protect a human.

The third movie is a kitschy rerun of the second film, with two monstrous machines battling over the lives of mortals. “Salvation” is both refreshing and intriguing because we get to see the post-nuclear-war time period, various other terminator models in action, and the unfolding of events we heard about in the previous movies.

The ending is a little unsatisfying, but it’s obvious that “Salvation” is the beginning of another trilogy. (Indeed, a fifth “Terminator” movie is already in development.)

Because of these films’ sparse release dates, they provide a fascinating record of the evolution of special effects, particularly when observing the disparity between the dated, 1984 film and the dazzling CGI of “T2.” With an average of about eight years between films, we might need to time-travel to 2029 to see how this series ends.

Directed by McG

Christian Bale / Sam Worthington / Anton Yelchin

Sci-fi / War     130 min.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and language)