Terminator: Salvation review. No more Mr. Nice Machines

It seems like going back to the beginning is all the rage these days.

Just two weeks ago we discovered the best way to become reacquainted with the intrepid explorers of the starship Enterprise was to watch Kirk, Spock, Uhuru, Bones and the rest step onto the bridge for the first time. Four years ago we reconnected with Batman by watching a young Bruce Wayne travel around the globe to face his fears and become the Dark Knight.

Now we are getting back on track in the ultimate battle between man and machines with Terminator:Salvation. There's a certain irony to the thought that starting at the beginning requires a trip 35 years into the future. (35 years is relative to the characters, since the first Terminator was set in 1984.)

Let's face it, the Terminator films were only partly about the chase and action and explosions and gunfire. The films were also about the everlasting nature of love (Kyle Reese travels through time to find Sarah Connor in 'The Terminator') and friendship (between the T-800 and a 13-year old John Connor in 'Terminator 2'.) The less said about the third film the better, except that it did serve the function of letting the audience know that the war with Skynet was coming, one way or another.

However, this time there is no 'Hasta la vista, Baby' humor or 'I came across time for you, Sarah' love declarations ... this is war, pure and simple. John Connor (Christian Bale) is a battle-hardened fighter who is leading one of several groups of humans against the machines. Connor has not yet met Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) who he will eventually befriend and send back to protect his mother from Arnold Schwarzenegger ...er .. the T-800. For now Connor is just trying to stay alive, and take out Skynet.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Terminator: Salvation really focuses on Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a death row inmate who agrees to give his body to science before receiving his lethal injection only to wake up in the year 2018, several years after Skynet launched the preemptive nuclear strike on the humans, known as Judgment Day. We follow Wright as he struggles to figure out why he is still alive and why the world has turned into a nightmare of destruction and desolation where the few humans left behind are forced to hide in abandoned buildings and fight when they can. Wright is saved by Reese and his young, mute, partner Star (Jadagrace Berry.) The trio hear Connor's voice as he gives daily resistance radio updates and begin making their way to the man with the plan.

At this point Connor is not leading the resistance. He’s just leading the southern California wing, taking answers from a committee of humans issuing orders from their submarine headquarters. Command scoffs at how Connor is considered humanity's savior, and have little time to hear his pleas for the lives of civilians or the search for Reese. Skynet, for some reason, has begun collecting humans, not just killing them, and have a large collection of civilians trapped inside their main base in California. When the resistance leaders learn of a way to defeat the machines, they order a full frontal assault, regardless of the collateral damage, or Connor's objections.

In the past three Terminator films we have only been given a glimpse at the war with machines; bleached skulls crushed by metallic feet, all-seeing Hunter Killers floating above the battleground where small groups of humans try to knock them out of the sky with conventional weapons. In T:S the humans are better armed than we thought. They have access to A-10 Warthog fighter jets, Apache helicopters and magnetic mines. Director McG makes good use of the hardware, creating action sequences reminiscent of Top Gun and Saving Private Ryan. He also shows us things we haven't seen before, like a stunning scene near the beginning of the film where Connor climbs onto a helicopter, takes control from the dead pilot, is knocked out of the air, crashes upside down and climbs out where he is attacked by a Terminator torso ... all in one unedited sequence.

Bale is intense and focused as Connor, but you can see the doubts he has about his role as humanity's savior that his mother has been telling him about since before birth. He questions if he can fulfill his destiny, while at the same time uses it as a guide for all his decisions. Worthington is a worthy match as the film's other major character. The less you know about him, the better, and if you haven't seen any clips or trailers which reveal his big secret, that's good. There are also plenty of Easter eggs and moments that fans of the series will instantly recognize, including one major moment that had the theater I was in erupt into applause.

But is it too dark? Is it missing the humor or heart that helped carry the other films? Let me put it this way ... after learning from the past two movies that Terminators can be our friends, it's nice to fear the machines again.

P.S. It's a good year for relative newcomer Anton Yelchin ... he also plays Chekhov in the new Star Trek!

P.P.S. Check out USA Today's fantastic interactive Terminator timeline to keep all the dates straight!

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