The cyborg sent to Earth from the future, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, was a villain in 1984's influential The Terminator, then a hero in the spectacular Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and the competent Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003).
As both prequel and sequel, Terminator Salvation, the fourth action-adventure science-fiction installment set in a post-nuclear-holocaust future, depicts the origins of the T-800 Model 101 Terminator as it focuses once again on the war between man and machine.
So, essentially, this fourth entry pretty much explains events that conspired to bring us the initial adventure.
Does this one have the spark and impact of the first two? Nope. But does it deliver the goods at about the level of the last installment? Yep.
It's 2018, fourteen years after Judgment Day. An army of Terminators -- cyborg assassins created by the computer network "Skynet," the self-aware intelligence system originally developed to defend the US from attack that turned on its creators and launched nuclear bombs in an attempt to destroy the human race -- roams the bleak landscape, killing humans in hiding.
Christian Bale (right) plays freedom fighter John Connor, the soldier and survivor who always saw this coming and continues to lead the resistance movement among the vastly outnumbered humans in an effort to stave off utter annihilation.
Marcus Wright, played by Sam Worthington, a decommissioned Terminator plagued by vague memories of being on death row, offers his help in the fight against Skynet, but Conner wonders whether he is from the past or the future and, more important, whether he can be trusted.
McG. (Joseph McGinty Nicol), the director who brought us the truly dreadful Charlie's Angels flicks and then redeemed himself a tad with We Are Marshall, works from a screenplay by John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris (who wrote the last one too) that once again involves termination, determination, and predetermination.
The jury remains out on the director's storytelling ability, but he has certainly improved enough to make you respect his moviemaking skills even if you don't particularly enjoy the finished product.
T4 is neither a "Connor's Angels" nor a "We Are Martial," but rather an initially interesting if not necessarily satisfying story. And although it pretty much stays in the year 2018, it nonetheless remains counterproductively complicated, demanding the same leap of faith and bringing along the same kind of baggage as most head-scratching narratives involving the concept of time travel (the exception: Back to the Future).
But what's most oppressive about it, what drains the joy, is the unnecessary and extravagant humorlessness of the whole enterprise. Between McG.'s seemingly fetishistic love of incendiary explosions and Bale's extreme and unvarying intensity (newcomer Worthington acts him off the screen) as he delivers a performance that is strictly functional, there's precious little air in the room and even less in the way of fun.
Where's the Governator when we really need him?
Mostly, this is a pyrotechnics extravaganza, close to a pure military action thriller, with a PG-13 sensibility, the first Terminator flick not rated R.
So we'll fight for the freedom of 2½ stars out of 4 for the grimly efficient and dry-as-a-desert Terminator Salvation. With all due respect to the film's single-mindedness, a hopelessly uninteresting, one-note lead performance from Christian Bale quickly dries up any Terminator salivation.
Movie Reviews - Week of 11/16/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Planet 51," "New Moon," and "The Blind Side." (3:02)
Movie Reviews - Week of 11/9/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Precious," "2012," and "Pirate Radio." (3:02)
Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 11/13/09
This week KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine take a look at the drama "Precious," the adventure disaster "2012," and the comedy "Pirate Radio." (17:24)
Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 11/06/09
This week KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine look at the comedy-war film, "The Men Who Stare at Goats," the animated re-make, "A Christmas Carol," and the horror-mystery-thriller "The Fourth Kind." (18:45)
Movie Reviews - Week of 11/2/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "The Men Who Stare at Goats", "A Christmas Carol" and "The Fourth Kind". (3:01)
Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 10/30/09
KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine take a look at the Chris Rock documentary, "Good Hair," Michael Jackson's "This is It," and the action-crime-drama "The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day." (17:43)
Movie Reviews - Week of 10/26/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Good Hair", "This Is It" and "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day". (3:00)
Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 10/23/09
KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine take a look at the animated adventure "Astro Boy," the bio-drama"Amelia," and the action-adventure-comedy "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant." (17:20)
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Christian Bale (right) plays freedom fighter John Connor, the soldier and survivor who always saw this coming and continues to lead the resistance movement among the vastly outnumbered humans in an effort to stave off utter annihilation. 
