TERMINATOR SALVATION 2.5*** This is one of those “sound and fury” sequel movies signifying nearly nothing”..a lot of action, great special effects, booming sound and a fast pace. However, and maybe partly because it was directed by someone who goes by the name “McG”, it comes across as a “fast food” version of the other Terminator Movies…a lot of razzle-dazzle but when you get right down to it, you ask: “where’s the beef”…where’s a solid story with good character development…I guess the evil machines gobbled it up.

This is the 4th movie in the Terminator series. It all started with a big bang with Terminator(T-1) (1984) which was a truly ground breaking film with never-before seen special effects and a story at least 10 years ahead of its time. It and the next one, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (T-2) (1991) were directed by the James Cameron, a genius at this type of film. T-2 expanded upon the ground breaking features of T-1, and then took it to another level with a stellar cast and one of the most iconic performances ever by Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Terminator 3:The Rise of the Machines” (T-3) (2003) was a disappointment, but somewhat understandable..no James Cameron and all new writers, new director, new cast except for the big and bad Arnold. That brings us to “Terminator Salvation” (T-4) with Christian Bale, Sam Worthington and, believe it or not, Moon Bloodgood (and she’s hot and “bad”).

In this sequel, it’s 2018 and Judgment Day is over. John Conner and the rest of the survivors are locked in a war with the ruthless machines which are out to annihilate what’s left of the human race. The plot and characters are as one-dimensional as the robots they fight. The dialogue is wooden and devoid of the type of humor that turned "I'll be back" into a career-launching catchphrase.

But none of that should matter right? The Terminator series has always been fun action flicks about almost indestructible robots on a tear…. dazzling us with their “stuff”. Sadly, T4 disappoints in this respect. Not that there's anything wrong technically with the special effects. The giant destroyer ships that snatch people up and release motorcycle cyborgs, and the of the action scenes are well crafted and exciting. But we've seen this before. The appeal of the Terminator action sequences has always been about putting a really mean killer robot in the middle of our everyday world and watching it go on a rip-roaring tear causing chaos and destruction. But T-4 is set in a post-apocalyptic world where earth has been devastated….. where everything is totally in ruin. So, there’s nothing to tear up and destroy…where’s the fun in that.

Bottom line.. if you simply want a “fast and furious” action film with a bit of a tribute to its predecessors, then go. But if you're hoping to get a meaningful sequel to those Terminator classics, you’ll be disappointed. I was.

Clark