[6]

Terminator: Salvation is passable summer entertainment held together by a sliver of thematic sci-fi integrity and a strong supporting performance by Sam Worthington (Avatar). Why Christian Bale opted into this movie is beyond me — it’s a thankless role. He’s easily outshined by Worthington, whose character carries all the dramatic weight of the story. Anton Yelchin, as a young Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn’s character in the first film), is also memorable. The visual effects by ILM are terrific, if overwhelming at times, and McG certainly knows how to put action scenes together (I wish he had a real name so I could take him more seriously.) But I wish the movie had loftier ambitions, something other than explodey summer spectacle. There’s a lot of compelling drama and thematic moral quandry in the Terminator mythology. If McG had mined that potential a little better, Terminator: Salvation might be something worth coming back to.