The Story:

After a nuclear holocaust performed by Skynet reaps humanity, John Conner sets out to find his future father Kyle Reese as Skynet has targeted him to prevent John’s birth. The second story arch follows Marcus Wright who John has grown to believe will play a major role in turning the tide of war, but for which side?

The Characters:

We follow former death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) as he tries to track down John Conner (Christian Bale) who is attempting to rally survivors together through radio transmissions for a final resistence against the machines. Although Conner is listed as the main character, the movie focuses more on Wright as he discovers a new sense of humanity in an unlikely source. It is a great concept and is pulled off quite well, but the effects on display really steal the show making the movie feel a little unbalanced at times. The machines under Skynet command act like a Nazi regime herding humans like cattle into processing facilities that share more than a little resemblance to concentration camps.

Effects/Gore:

This is what the movie was all about. The Skynet robots from soldiers to giant war machines all look realistic for the first time ever in the series. For the most part the effects are so seemless that it’s often hard to tell the difference between the CG, and physical effects. The movie has a few bloody fight scenes, but sadly no human organs are spilled.

Lasting Appeal:

With the absence of Arnie in future films it was a wise choice to mainly focus on Skynet’s potential as an evil world controlling entity. Three stories are happening at once making it somewhat confusing at times, but the onslaught of mehanical mayhem when on display keeps the flick from becoming a bore.

Final Headcount:

Terminator Salvation is a great pop corn movie filled with mostly realistic robots. It all feels like a lot to take in until the last few frames when it connects the story archs together. Considering it’s the fourth entry to the series if your not looking for too much theres lots to have fun with in this robot infested post apocalyptic wasteland!