McG Terminates the Terminator Franchise with Terminator Salvation (2009)

...By Bringing it Down to a G.I. Joe Level

Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, Moon Bloodgood, Common, Helena Bonham Carter, Roland Kickinger, Jadagrace Berry, Michael Ironside, and Linda Hamilton (uncredited voice).

Directed by: McG.

Salvation... you say? This Terminator film is far, far from that. Just when you thought things were looking up with Christian Bale playing the role of the grown up and matured Resistance leader of the future John Connor, it's actually the opposite. Despite a few visits and words of advice from mastermind and Terminator creator James Cameron, director McG still fails to live up to the franchise's expectations.

First impressions are everything, even when it comes down to filmmaking. If your opening and title sequence isn't right, guess what that says about the rest of your film? Watch the beginning of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and compare it to the beginnings of The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, you will soon come to realize the difference despite the fact that all three of them starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. In short, the opening of the third film was a joke compared to that of the first two.

So here we come to the hyped up fourth film which serves as a sequel and as a reboot of the franchise. I figured they can't get this wrong twice now can they? I was wrong. I went in expecting a Terminator film and what do we get in the first few minutes? An opening title sequence for a Tom Clancy video game with sampled title imagery from the first Terminator film. Just great, that tells me a lot about what to expect now.