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Description
"This is John Connor."

Lets continue our Terminator marathon with this entry that's actually set during the war where John Connor befriends a human/Terminator hybrid and protects the one who he's supposed to send to 1984; Terminator Salvation.

In 2003, during the events of "Rise of the Machines", Dr. Serena Kogan of Cyberdyne Systems convinces death row inmate Marcus Wright to sign over his body for medical research following his execution.
Some time later, the automated Skynet system is activated and becomes self-aware; perceiving humans as a threat to its existence, it starts a nuclear holocaust to eradicate them in the event known as "Judgment Day".
In 2018, John Connor leads an attack on a Skynet base, where he discovers human prisoners and schematics for incorporating living tissue to a new type of Terminator, the T-800. John survives an explosion on the base, which is destroyed.
Following John's departure, Marcus emerges from the base's wreckage and begins walking toward Los Angeles.
John returns to the Resistance headquarters located aboard a nuclear submarine and is briefed by General Hugh Ashdown that the Resistance has discovered a hidden signal containing a code protocol which they believe can initiate a shutdown of Skynet's machines. Working on this intelligence, the Resistance plans to launch an offensive against Skynet's headquarters in San Francisco. It is decided among the Resistance that the offensive will commence in four days, due to an intercepted kill-list created by Skynet, which plans to terminate the Resistance's command staff within the same time frame.
John learns he is second on this list, following Kyle Reese. The Resistance leaders are unaware of Kyle's importance, but John knows that Kyle will eventually travel back in time and become his father, and realizes that Skynet has learned of this fact.
Now John has to find Kyle and ensure his survival, while also making sure his mission to destroy Skynet is a success.

The story is a major mixed bag as while there are some interesting ideas and there is still some pretty solid action, it's setting during the war is a nice deviation and change of pace from the traditional "Terminator" formula, and it does take some risks, the problem is that there's too many ideas to fully flesh out properly, there are things that the movie drops altogether, some of the risks don't really pay off, there's not a lot of focus on certain characters which makes said characters forgettable, and there are some pretty boring moments that drag.
The action scenes are still pretty fun and intense like in the other movies with scenes like John's attack and raid on the Skynet base, Marcus and Kyle's encounter with the T-600, the Hunter Killers chasing down Marcus, Kyle, and Star, Marcus' escape from Connor's base, the battle between the Resistance and Skynet at Skynet HQ, and the climax where John and Marcus fight the T-800.
The drama of this movie does have some interesting things behind it like Marcus' arc throughout the film which is decently well handled, but the movie has plenty of other things that aren't very interesting because the movie barely focused on anything else aside from John and Marcus and their goals. Maybe it would have been more compelling if we learned more about the other survivors and members of the Resistance and what they're lives were like before and after Judgment Day happened.
The suspense of the movie is pretty lacking as we know that John and Kyle are both gonna survive this movie as John's eventually gonna send Kyle back to the past to protect Sarah. And the other characters aren't really interesting enough to really care about what happens to them.
The production design of the movie is pretty solid for a post-apocalyptic centered movie, and they do show their value with the sets and setpieces being pretty well built and crafted, the actual filming locations featured are well utilized, the lighting is pretty solid, and the costumes, clothing, and makeup are pretty well crafted. But my biggest gripe is that the movie looks pretty dim and ugly. I know it's after Judgment Day, but the post-apocalyptic worlds seen in the first two movies and other franchises like "Mad Max" looked a lot better than this.
The special effects are very well crafted as they do look pretty damn good for the most part, and it is a nice blend of practical and CGI effects with the fire and explosions, the destruction, the blood, the gunfire, and the designs and effects for all the various Terminators and machines like the T-600, the T-700, the Hunter Killers, the Aerostat, the Harvester, the Hydro-bot, the Moto-Terminator, and the T-800. But the de-aging effects for the T-800 for it to look like Arnold from the first movie are pretty ugly.
The characters are mostly pretty lackluster as most of them don't have enough focus on them to really get to know or remember them whether it's characters like Star, Blair, Kate, Barnes, Ashdown, or Skynet taking the form of Dr. Kogan who's a pretty underwhelming villain. But there are at least three characters that are decent, and thankfully they are the more focused characters like John Connor, Kyle Reese, and Marcus. Also, the T-800 at the end is a good last minute villain.
The acting is pretty decent as the actors do deliver some good performances like Christian Bale as John, Sam Worthington as Marcus, Anton Yelchin as Kyle, Helena Bonham-Carter as Dr. Kowan / Skynet, Jadagrace Berry as Star, and a few others.
The music by Danny Elfman is pretty decent as his score does sound pretty foreboding and well composed, and it does capture the movie's gritty, intense, action-packed, and dark tone.

Overall, this isn't an awful movie, and there are some positives about it, but this is defiantly one of the weaker movies in the series.

Cast:
Christian Bale as John Connor
Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese
Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams
Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor
Common as Barnes
Jane Alexander as Virginia
Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Serena Kogan / Skynet
Michael Ironside as General Ashdown
Ivan G'Vera as General Losenko
Roland Kickinger as the T-800
Jadagrace Berry as Star
Brian Steele as the T-600
Linda Hamilton as the voice of Sarah Connor
Isaac Kappy as Barbarosa

Crew:
Directed by McG
Written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris
Produced by Derek Anderson, Moritz Borman, Victor Kubicek, and Jeffrey Silver
Music by Danny Elfman

Misc.
Production companies: The Halcyon Company, Wonderland Sound and Vision
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date: May 21, 2009
Runtime: 1 hour, 55 minutes

Description
"This is John Connor."

Lets continue our Terminator marathon with this entry that's actually set during the war where John Connor befriends a human/Terminator hybrid and protects the one who he's supposed to send to 1984; Terminator Salvation.

In 2003, during the events of "Rise of the Machines", Dr. Serena Kogan of Cyberdyne Systems convinces death row inmate Marcus Wright to sign over his body for medical research following his execution.
Some time later, the automated Skynet system is activated and becomes self-aware; perceiving humans as a threat to its existence, it starts a nuclear holocaust to eradicate them in the event known as "Judgment Day".
In 2018, John Connor leads an attack on a Skynet base, where he discovers human prisoners and schematics for incorporating living tissue to a new type of Terminator, the T-800. John survives an explosion on the base, which is destroyed.
Following John's departure, Marcus emerges from the base's wreckage and begins walking toward Los Angeles.
John returns to the Resistance headquarters located aboard a nuclear submarine and is briefed by General Hugh Ashdown that the Resistance has discovered a hidden signal containing a code protocol which they believe can initiate a shutdown of Skynet's machines. Working on this intelligence, the Resistance plans to launch an offensive against Skynet's headquarters in San Francisco. It is decided among the Resistance that the offensive will commence in four days, due to an intercepted kill-list created by Skynet, which plans to terminate the Resistance's command staff within the same time frame.
John learns he is second on this list, following Kyle Reese. The Resistance leaders are unaware of Kyle's importance, but John knows that Kyle will eventually travel back in time and become his father, and realizes that Skynet has learned of this fact.
Now John has to find Kyle and ensure his survival, while also making sure his mission to destroy Skynet is a success.

The story is a major mixed bag as while there are some interesting ideas and there is still some pretty solid action, it's setting during the war is a nice deviation and change of pace from the traditional "Terminator" formula, and it does take some risks, the problem is that there's too many ideas to fully flesh out properly, there are things that the movie drops altogether, some of the risks don't really pay off, there's not a lot of focus on certain characters which makes said characters forgettable, and there are some pretty boring moments that drag.
The action scenes are still pretty fun and intense like in the other movies with scenes like John's attack and raid on the Skynet base, Marcus and Kyle's encounter with the T-600, the Hunter Killers chasing down Marcus, Kyle, and Star, Marcus' escape from Connor's base, the battle between the Resistance and Skynet at Skynet HQ, and the climax where John and Marcus fight the T-800.
The drama of this movie does have some interesting things behind it like Marcus' arc throughout the film which is decently well handled, but the movie has plenty of other things that aren't very interesting because the movie barely focused on anything else aside from John and Marcus and their goals. Maybe it would have been more compelling if we learned more about the other survivors and members of the Resistance and what they're lives were like before and after Judgment Day happened.
The suspense of the movie is pretty lacking as we know that John and Kyle are both gonna survive this movie as John's eventually gonna send Kyle back to the past to protect Sarah. And the other characters aren't really interesting enough to really care about what happens to them.
The production design of the movie is pretty solid for a post-apocalyptic centered movie, and they do show their value with the sets and setpieces being pretty well built and crafted, the actual filming locations featured are well utilized, the lighting is pretty solid, and the costumes, clothing, and makeup are pretty well crafted. But my biggest gripe is that the movie looks pretty dim and ugly. I know it's after Judgment Day, but the post-apocalyptic worlds seen in the first two movies and other franchises like "Mad Max" looked a lot better than this.
The special effects are very well crafted as they do look pretty damn good for the most part, and it is a nice blend of practical and CGI effects with the fire and explosions, the destruction, the blood, the gunfire, and the designs and effects for all the various Terminators and machines like the T-600, the T-700, the Hunter Killers, the Aerostat, the Harvester, the Hydro-bot, the Moto-Terminator, and the T-800. But the de-aging effects for the T-800 for it to look like Arnold from the first movie are pretty ugly.
The characters are mostly pretty lackluster as most of them don't have enough focus on them to really get to know or remember them whether it's characters like Star, Blair, Kate, Barnes, Ashdown, or Skynet taking the form of Dr. Kogan who's a pretty underwhelming villain. But there are at least three characters that are decent, and thankfully they are the more focused characters like John Connor, Kyle Reese, and Marcus. Also, the T-800 at the end is a good last minute villain.
The acting is pretty decent as the actors do deliver some good performances like Christian Bale as John, Sam Worthington as Marcus, Anton Yelchin as Kyle, Helena Bonham-Carter as Dr. Kowan / Skynet, Jadagrace Berry as Star, and a few others.
The music by Danny Elfman is pretty decent as his score does sound pretty foreboding and well composed, and it does capture the movie's gritty, intense, action-packed, and dark tone.

Overall, this isn't an awful movie, and there are some positives about it, but this is defiantly one of the weaker movies in the series.

Cast:
Christian Bale as John Connor
Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese
Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams
Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor
Common as Barnes
Jane Alexander as Virginia
Helena Bonham Carter as Dr. Serena Kogan / Skynet
Michael Ironside as General Ashdown
Ivan G'Vera as General Losenko
Roland Kickinger as the T-800
Jadagrace Berry as Star
Brian Steele as the T-600
Linda Hamilton as the voice of Sarah Connor
Isaac Kappy as Barbarosa

Crew:
Directed by McG
Written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris
Produced by Derek Anderson, Moritz Borman, Victor Kubicek, and Jeffrey Silver
Music by Danny Elfman

Misc.
Production companies: The Halcyon Company, Wonderland Sound and Vision
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date: May 21, 2009
Runtime: 1 hour, 55 minutes