Terminator....I won't be back

The man vs. machine theme seems to be mounting with the release of Terminator: Salvation and Transformers 2 on the horizon. However, Salvation didn't quite cut it.

I'm not an avid watcher of the original trilogy- in fact I've only seen the second movie. Despite that, I was hoping to just get a thoroughly entertaining experience when I went to see this. Even that shallow expectation wasn't fulfilled, unfortunately. The writing was sub par, detracting from key scenes that demanded a strong script.

Christian Bale was the main character, and he seemed quite aware of this the entire length of the film. He provoked several bouts of laughter when he overacted in different situations. The same rough, hoarse voice pervaded every line of the movie, no matter what he was saying. He could have been ordering a Big Mac and still would've tried his best to sound dark and dramatic. Thoughts of the Dark Knight came back as Bale deactivated a motocycle terminator that looked exactly like the ejection cycle from Batman, then sped off on it. This peaked when he uttered the line "Where is she?" in the same urgent tone as "Where are they?" in the Dark Knight.

Also, another big no-no was letting Bale utter the line "I'll be back." When Arnold was bestowed with this classic line, he owned it. When he said, "I'll be back," you knew he was a badass, and he was going to own some people before he returned. Bale chose this line to be the only line he didn't try to overact. In fact, it was so nonchalant one would think that he was off to the market to pick up some eggs, or that the roast needed checking.

Despite these distractions, the CGI was quite good, and it was great to see an updated version of the Terminator blowing up everything within reach. Many references were given to the first three films, which helped please hardcore fans. Sam Worthington delivered as Marcus Wright and made the audience want to give him that second chance. ( I can't say more about him as it would include spoilers-just know he was convincing.)

Props to Danny Elfman for the amazing music. The pounding drums and strong brass are what saved many of the scenes in this movie. Every time that theme played you knew some shit was going down.

My Amateur Rating: C+