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Terminator Salvation is leaps and bounds above Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in just about every way. This feels like a Terminator film which at the least could be considered a distant dream John Connor has of the future. Universally unloved director McG has crafted a movie that for now,  has the best action of the summer. Whereas the third was all about the humor and falling flat on its face, the fourth installment gets back to the dark tone and tries to be a worthy entry in the franchise. The film isn’t without its problems, like, the plot. Otherwise McG, Shane “We’re through professionally” Hulburt, and company have created a film that’s within reach of T2.

The biggest question most will have on their minds is going to be how Christian Bale performs, and he’s in full Batman mode here. He’s also a little too one-note but that’s not his problem – it is on the mythology of the series and on the writers. We know John Connor is going to be superhuman to lead the Resistance, and we know his backstory and how he becomes this. True, the idea of some of the survivors doubting John Connor is intriguing but the movie keeps it confined to Michael Ironside and his S.S. Good Guy HQ. The writers, John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris, have some good ideas for John but these never fully come to fruition and really John Connor is the biggest example of all the problems in the script. Most of all, you can really tell which parts were rewritten after Bale was chosen to play Connor over Marcus Wright, which leads to John being underdeveloped in this go-around. This might be fanboy complaining, so excuse me, but early in the film John Connor finds out Skynet is building a new Terminator, the T-800, and later encounters a model 101 (Arnold, with the help of Roland Kickinger) and doesn’t even give a response. Um…I’m fairly certain John Connor would remember the closest thing to a father he ever had, which was mentioned in the last Terminator film (of all places).

Sam Worthington takes up Bale’s leftovers and he does an impressive job as Marcus Wright. He’s the most interesting and most developed character in the flick and chews up the screen with flair and, in another timeline, the film would have been more about him. Even with forty percent more Connor, this is the Marcus Wright show and should hopefully make a star out of Worthington. Even with all this though, the script malfunctions on some of Marcus’ backstory and revelations. Yes, he’s the character the audience an identify with the most but why he donated his body is mucked up other than ‘he’s a killer’. This is a series that prides itself on giving us lush, interesting characters and the script opts for cliche. His romance with Moon Bloodgood’s Blair Williams is also rushed and nothing feels natural. Worthington’s performance is able to mask most of this and allow you to enjoy the ride while it lasts.

The best casting decision by far was Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese. This kid is the best thing in the flick and perfectly captures the spirit of Michael Biehn’s icon. It’s fun to watch him interact with Marcus and see how much of an influence the machine has on a young, impressionable Reese. Too bad the other supporting characters are wasted or more bland. The aforementioned Moon Bloodgood’s character could be called Plot Device and still have the same effect in the film. Her line delivery is terrible and she has almost no spark with Marcus. Even more wasted is Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor who seems to be pregnant because it’s chic and not because the movie wants to give John and his wife something to mull over. Michael Ironside is just collecting a paycheck as General Ashdown and really had no business being in this movie. Jane Alexander plays a refugee named Virginia who’s spiritual, and is then captured moments later never to be heard from again. After she’s captured by the Harvester, you quickly forget she was ever in the film at all. Getting the biggest shaft, though, is Common as Barnes – who’s given nothing to do but feed John Connor lines when necessary. Barnes is described as a “deeply righteous individual who doesn’t take orders” but none of this is ever conveyed in his actions. If the poorly developed characters aren’t enough, Brancato and Ferris feel the story doesn’t need to get going right away, and sort of idles it until Reese is captured and Marcus and John meet for the first time.

It’s easy to blame the underdeveloped characters and uneven structure on McG because, like Michael Bay, the guy is a cinematic punching bag. In some respects it’s true because while he tried with We Are Marshall, something was lost on the way from that film to this one. Granted Brancato and Ferris are largely to blame, but as J.J. Abrams proved on some other recent sci-fi epic, directors can work around shoddy writing and make something good. It’s not that McG isn’t capable of doing such a thing, but he chose to focus more on the action than character. What he does do right is expand upon the world James Cameron created back in 1984. For a longtime fan like me, it was nice to see the T-600 finally appear on screen and be handled well. The Harvester was a nice menacing force on screen and the Moto-Terminators that eject out of it’s legs are even sweeter. The world itself does embody a place no one would want to live in, which is what Cameron aimed for from day one. If anything, you can tell the film was handled by a director who understands and loves the franchise even if the script doesn’t. It’s most obvious in the references which never feel forced and it was a real treat to hear “You Could Be Mine” by Guns N’ Roses used midway through the film.

Then, of course, we have the action scenes, which are for now the best of the summer. The opening battle is engaging and features one of the best one-shots used in some time. From there we get air battles that make you feel you’re in the war, a battle with the Harvester that’s sure to leave the audience applauding, and caps it off with an exciting showdown with the T-800. While the action seems to just happen as to feel organic to what’s happening around the leads, it doesn’t make it any less fun. The visual effects are nifty and get the job done but special mention should be made of the sound effects. The film should be nominated for an Academy Award for its awesome assault on the ears. The gunfire, swooshes of HK’s and zips of Moto-Terminators are what truly make one feel they’re in the middle of this giant, epic war that’s far from over. Various times I looked over my shoulder to make sure a bullet hadn’t whizzed by me and taken a body part with it. Nothing comes close and likely won’t this year to sounding as immense and genius as these effects.

I liked Terminator Salvation enough at the end of the day. No one’s going to change their perception of McG, but he’s made a worthy entry into the Terminator series which is what I’m sure he set out to do. We can sit here and say that its star is bland and discuss the many problems that plague it. Instead I’m choosing to accept the film on its own terms and realize that McG, Yelchin and Worthington do a great job of making all of this work. The script may be outright terrible, but the overall film gives a nice shot in the arm to this series after T3 did everything it could to kill it. Just make sure better writers are hired next time.

Oh, one final note; thank you for not doing the stupid, terrible, very bad rumored ending.

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