(SPOILER ALERT)

Just got finished watching Terminator Salvation. I seem to remember this didn’t get stellar reviews in the theaters. Overall, I didn’t think this was a terrible movie though.  Maybe I just had lower expectations from all the talk. But the action was pretty good. You definitely can’t go wrong with Robots & HK’s of all sizes, Battles, and Explosions. Great effects too, especially on Marcus.  This recently perfected effect (ala Harvey Two-Face) continues to amaze me.  The story was ok, but seemed a bit forced.  Just too much going on, without that much depth to it.

Also, there just seemed to be too many characters. You could tell they were trying to bring in alot of emotional moments, but I just didn’t feel much connection to the shallow characters and their plight.  I’d say the exception to this (along with everything else in the movie) was Marcus who was really the only stand-out for me, despite his (intentional?) dry/staunch/mechanical manner. But even here they could have taken his dilemma a bit further.  There was never any doubt or surprise what he would do when his decision points came.

Cool Stuff: Robots, Explosions, Motorcycle Terminators, G&R, SkyNet HQ, Good ol’ industrial factory showdown, and of course Marcus the (predictably) secret terminator hybrid.

Lame Stuff: When did Bruce Wayne start fighting terminators? Is Kyle Reese a parrot, or does he just repeat everything he hears? Was anyone really gullible enough to believe there was a magic Terminator shutdown signal to end the war? And transmitting it from the Resistance HQ? That was dumb (and was it even possible from underwater?). Robot eels?  I’ll be back? Motorcycle Terminator Override? I sorta liked how Bruce Wayne hacked his way into the Motorcycle and everywhere in SkyNet, but somehow that just didn’t seem 100% believable.   Pregnant Kate the middle of every battle?

So overall, this was a good Sunday Afternoon flick as long as you’re not expecting brilliance. And honestly, the CG Arnold/Conan wasn’t as bad as I remembered everyone said it was, but definitely (along with alot of other lines/etc) was just thrown in for nostalgic purposes and again seemed forced.