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There are things, however, that are enjoyable or well done in Terminator Salvation. The relationship between Kyle Reese and Marcus Wright, as the cyborg teaches the young man how to survive, is a compelling portion of the plot. The relationship is almost paternalistic. The audience feels as though without this mentorship, the human may not survive to fulfill his role in history.

And Sam Worthington's performance is the surprise stand-out of the movie. There is something interesting in his performance that attracts the audience's attention. He is also subtle in his mannerisms as a cyborg. Anyone familiar with the franchise knows how the Terminators scan the horizon as done classically by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Worthington has the characteristics down without being obvious. He seeds scenes with small hints to his true nature in his physicality. The performance is also well done as the character struggles with the opposing nature of his machine/human existence. In the one interesting variation of the common theme (the nature of existence) he is not attempting to achieve humanity but resist those attempting to deny it to him. Given with what he has to work with, Worthington achieves a fair degree of success with the performance.

Stan Winston, the legendary effects coordinator, who died while working on the film, would be pleased with the visual result. The shattered world that remains after Judgment Day and the robotic nightmares who hunt humanity are as real, relentless and frightening as ever. It is a fitting final product for the man who was involved in such significant classics as Aliens, Predator and Jurassic Park. The effects are for the first time in the franchise entirely realized, vivid and frightening. The various Terminator models from the T-1 to the T-600 (the predecessor to Arnie's T-800) as well as all new versions are imaginative and take advantage of different types of terrain, environments and sizes.

In the end, Terminator Salvation never delivers on the promise of the earlier glimpses of the post-apocalyptic world. It fails to have as significant a genre-expanding impact as its predecessors, each in their own ways having had remarkable significance (the first being a fantastic robotic version of a horror film, the second exploring sci fi themes and the third with a brave and unexpected ending). It retreads familiar ground with easy plot devices and ordinary characters. It neither innovates nor advances the series in any way. It is standard summer action fare with disappointing pretenses of other things. As a fan of the series and the understanding that they are apparently intent on making two additional sequels with Bale, I hope they take the opportunity to explore other aspects of the interesting world available to them.

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