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At now twenty-five years old, the Terminator franchise is as old as I am. That's probably not a positive comparison to make in review of this fourth instalment, or humanity's fate, considering that I tend to drown myself in alcohol and start to feel ever-so-slightly agitated by the irresponsive technology that sits here in front of me as I attempt to write my reviews. Either Windows Vista is shit, or my laptop is deliberately ignoring my commands and becoming completely self-aware.

While neither of those possibilities would be particularly surprising, my post-cinema instincts telling me that I quite enjoyed Terminator: Salvation definitely were.

Having witnessed two of my all time favourite franchises ruined in the past few years with those pathetic Alien Vs. Predator attempts, I didn't have the best of hopes for another Terminator film being any where near as stimulating as the three that preceded it. And although it never really threatens to touch the brilliance of the first two films (did anyone actually ever think that it would?), Salvation does at least keeps throw in a very interesting concept regarding the threat of SkyNet, and manages to keep the entertainment at a respectable level. So I wouldn't exactly count it as a failure.

Now in 2018, resistance leader John Connor is played by Christian Bale. Deep into war with the machines, Connor is forced to pair up with a mysterious vigilante named Marcus Wright (Sam Worthing) and break into SkyNet to rescue his (younger) Father, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), to preserve the fate of mankind's eventual technological overhaul.

Whereas we all know the story by now, Salvation exhibits some nice touches, particularly when the action is fully flowing, which will keep the average Terminator fan entertained. There are some thrilling sequences here, which were created by some good, old-fashioned stunt work, rather than the overuse of CGI (which many fans feared was going to happen prior to the film been made).

Salvation is also very well directed (despite the ridiculous McG name). The camerawork pulls the audience right into the heart of the action, though never in a particularly jerky manner that we soon start to wonder what the hell is going on (as was the case with Quantum of Solace, say).

The acting holds up, too. Christian Bale is hardly my favourite person to headline a movie, but he does a decent enough job here (despite that raspy voice). Furthermore, Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Brewster, Connor's pregnant wife, is an improvement over Claire Danes in Terminator 3; while Anton Yelchin is surprisingly effective as a young Kyle Reese.

The show stealer, however, has to be Sam Worthington. His mysterious character creates a new and interesting angle for the whole Terminator franchise. The film opens with him on death row, though (inevitably) he soon pops up a quarter of the way through the story and the audience is left wondering how and why? Is he the enemy, or part of the resistance? Should Connor trust him, or not? All is revealed in a pretty fascinating manner.

Wisely, the movie stays away from humour this time around. I did like T3, but its parodies may have been a little off putting in places for some. Salvation feels a lot more cynical in its approach, which definitely suits the theme of the franchise a whole lot more, and no doubt the majority of Terminator fans will prefer it this way.

In regards to the above, you'd probably expect Salvation to be a lot scarier, then? Remember how terrifying the T-800 was in Cameron's original? Well, the unfortunate thing is the cyborgs don't seem quite so effective here, considering that their threat is often overhauled all too easily by the resistance; thus, reducing the amount of suspense. There are some great battles -- the final showdown, in particular, pays homage to the first two Terminator films -- but the bottom line is the franchise just isn't as scary as it used to be. This is a disappointing aspect of the film.

And I do hate it when sequels attempt to echo the previous movies of a franchise. AVP's re-hash of the line "One ugly motherfucker" was a perfect example of dialogue at its most annoying. At times, it may be acceptable if done in a genuinely humorous manner, but with Salvation's serious tone it just doesn't work here. Heard, again, are the lines "Come with me if you want to live" and "I'll be back." Seriously, is there any need? I even half expected Bale to say "Hasta la vista, baby" at one point in the film.

Overall, despite these gripes, I found Salvation to be an enjoyable experience, and quite satisfying. Perhaps this was due to my expectations being so low to begin with (action films just don't cut it these days), or that it was actually a decent movie. At the point of writing this, I am going entirely with my instincts, so I will not have a definitive answer till I watch it the second time around.

What I am sure of, however, is that Salvation delivers what it first promised: Thrilling action sequences and impressive special FX (keep an eye out for "Arnie" in this one). The story isn't all there, but one has to remember that this is only part one of a new trilogy, so it was probably important not to exhaust every possibility within this first instalment. Yes, Salvation is a Terminator movie, but it is also the start of something new. In close reference to the tagline "The end is just beginning", let's hope that things develop for an even better experience the next time around.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2009.