59. Terminator Salvation (2009)

I’ve been a fan of the Terminator movies since the original film. In fact, it was one of the videos (like Robocop) that I watched over and over again, even if it wasn’t the most trendy thing to admit to, but somehow or other, Terminator Salvation had passed me by.

A prisoner on death row is asked to sign his body over to medical science, then wakes up years later, as a survivor from an attack on a Skynet facility. He befriends Kyle Reese, after Reese saves his life, and a young mute girl named Star, and the three of them attempt to find the resistance, until Reece and Star are captured.

In the meantime, John Connor and the others in the resistance, plan to attack the Skynet headquarters, after Connor learns that he is on a list of people who Skynet wish dead. Also on the list is Kyle Reece, who, Connor knows, will be sent back in time and will become his father.

The special effects are second-to-none, and there are some genuinely scary moments with the various terminator cyborgs doing their usual thing of refusing to die, but the story isn’t as compact as the first two films, and although the action never stops, it’s also slightly directionless, though I have to say, very entertaining. Ultimately, however, Schwarzenegger is much missed (though a T-101 version with Arnie’s face does appear at one stage), and all I can think is that perhaps it’s about time for the franchise to move on.

6/10