Terminator Salvation picks up 15 years after the previous installment, T3: Rise of the Machines, with John Connor (Christian Bale) leading the rebellion thatis cracking at the seems. Skynet, the evil robots, are growing in strength, but the rebellion has a trick up its sleeve that could save humanity. Meanwhile, Marcus (Sam Worthington) wakes up in the war-torn landscape and cant remember anything since 2003 when he was on deathrow and gave his body to science, and realizes that hes not as human as he once thought. And while all this is going on, Connor must find his father, Kyle Reece, before its to late. So the plot is farely busy for an action movie, but the director (McG, Charlies Angels Full Throttle) manages it farely well, making it understandable even if your not a Terminator fan.With that said, the plot isnt really that great and is pretty uninspired. But, ofcourse, it isnt about the plot, its about the action, and McG definately delivers. The battles are a treat to watch, with special effects put to good use. Infact, there were only one or two occasions when the effects were poorer then the previous standard, compared to alot of other action movies (Wanted shines through in this example).
Some of the scenes were fairly memorable, although not all of them are memorablecompared to the sheer scale of the action. McG does a good job with the camera work and setting out of these action scenes. There is no"Bourne - esc" camera work in Salvation (Unlike certain other movies such as Quantum of Solace), and McG gets the best shots of the action on tape. However, certain points of the movie (mainly the action scenes) can appear quite dark on camera.McG also does a good job in establishing that each and every Terminator in the movie is deadly, and that it takes a lot to take them down. This is important for a Terminator film, seeing as each film only contains one per movie that were seemingly impossible to kill. It also adds to the effect of the "end of the world setting" as these furious machines come in large packs and roam the baren land of earth. Now to the acting. Quite honestly, I think Christian Bale is a poor actor. He has been very wooden in his previous roles (The Dark Knight) and is quite wooden in this role as well. Infact, the highlight of his career was the American Adaption of the Anime movie "Howls Moving Castle", and he wasnt that great in the film.
The supporting actors are a mixed bag as well. Moon Bloodgood is mediocre, Anton Yelchin was decent as Kyle Reece, and the only highlight in the acting was Sam Worthington. Worthington does a very good performance, and judging by the fact that the director is called"McG", he probably wasnt given much to work with or much inspiration from him. The soundtrack is farely decent, but like the plot, is quite uninspired. It is basically your normal Action Movie kind of soundtrack, with nothing that quite stands out in the movie, nor does much of the soudtrack stand out above other action movies. This, obviously, isnt a good thing. So Terminator Salvation is a fun movie to see with friends if you just want a basic action romp, however by movie standards it is quite poor. Spectacular action cant make up for Mediocre Performances and uninspired Plot and soundtrack, which ultimately drag the film down.
Plot: 6/10. The plot is quite uninspired by even action movie standards.
Performances: 6/10. Sam Worthington saves Salvation from mediocrity, performance wise.
Directing: 7/10. McG does a good job with camerawork, set pieces, etc . . . However, its really nothing great.
Soundtrack: 5/10. Quite mediocre really.
Other : action : 8/10. The action is great, and great special effects as well.
Overall : (not an average of above scores) 6/10. A good action romp, althoughlittle more.