Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin
Having made Batman cool again, Christian Bale does his best to save another stalled franchise in Terminator Salvation.
Try as he might, though, the actor can’t elevate this fourth instalment in the sci-fi series to anywhere near the heights of the original Terminator and T2.
It’s not that Salvation is a terrible film.
The storyline, which is set in 2018 and sees hard-arse resistance fighters John Connor (Bale) and Kyle Reese (Yelchin) encounter a strange new Terminator (Worthington), is intriguing enough and there are some thunderous action set pieces.
The problem is that, in his efforts to rejuvenate the franchise, director McG has stripped away elements that make Terminator films great.
Most of the characters lack depth, making it difficult to really care about their lot.
The fact that humans are fighting a series of sterile robots as opposed to one embodiment of evil means the movie also has little tension.
While Terminator Salvation doesn’t hurt the franchise, it’s not the powerful reboot fans prayed for.
Good for: Those with low expectations.
PIERRE DE VILLIERS