Terminator Salvation.

Watched Terminator Salvation this afternoon at Summit USJ. It is alright but still feel that more could be done to the overall storyline. No solid reason is given behind why Skynet is doing what it's doing on the screen. Why harvest the survivors? For raw energy? Why not just "terminate" them? Maybe to use as force labour to built the rather dull and lame looking Skynet city/factory. The only reason maybe I would re watch it again is the last 15 minutes whereby a chunky and beefy T-800 Model 101 (Arnie's face and body physique from the original '84 movie is CGI-ed onto Roland Kickinger) appears to take on John Connor (Christian Bale). Suddenly a wave of nostalgic feeling washes me over. And McG literally made T-800 into an "unstoppable, killing machine". Heck, he, I mean, it even chop an eight feet tall T-600 into half with just a swipe of its arm. In all its shiny chrome-ness glory and one which appears "muscular" comparatively with the original version. Maybe I should cancel that T-600 Hot Toys preorder. Initially I thought that the T-600 looks macho with a Gatling gun and huge but darn it, it is primitive, slow, dumb and fodder for The Resistance. Even a teenage Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) could trap and bring one down without any firing weapons. By the way I could not identify a single T-700 but I guess it is suppose to be in there somewhere. And the lines are corny to a certain degree (very much like Star Wars), particularly by John Connor, which makes him looks like suffering from super ego complex. I understand he is some sort of messiah to the survivors but darn, he can be irritating, particularly that "This is The Resistance...I am John Connor" broadcast. Also more should be explored in terms of John Connor's character and psyche. I mean, we are talking about someone who knows what is going on and about to happen and yet any "different" actions could potentially "wipe" off the current existence and timeline. And how does Connor deal with the fact that his natural father Reese is just a teenager and Connor would have to sent him back in time to conceive Connor which also means his death? Heavily pregnant Bryce Dallas Howard appears as Kate, Connor's wife and she appears to be wasted in her role as it isn't explored further in the storyline. And Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) turns out to be a hybrid Terminator with natural human emotions and certain biological parts still intact, as the perfect pawn to lure Connor into Skynet's command center. By the way, why the heck did the trailer reveal Wright as a machine? Wright and Connor made an agreement to infiltrate Skynet to locate Reese and other survivors. But Skynet plans the whole darn events from the beginning. Very smart. But Skynet did not take into account that his trusted pawn would turn and join The Resistance coz of all things, he/it still has a "human heart" who also fell in love with a Lt. Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood). But who wouldn't if you have the exotic beauty Bloodgood as someone who has saved you and keeps hinting "fall in love with me". Again her role is so flat that I thought she was a Terminator too. Skynet gets blown up nuclear style (makes me wonder how The Resistance protect themselves from all the radioactive fallout) which is also due to its own fault of being smart but lacking foresight for storing all the T-800 nuclear power cells un-protected. Connor got impaled by the T-800 before that and about to die but Wright made the ultimate sacrifice and gives his/its heart to the messiah instead. Then, Connor spouts the timeless, boring line whilst flying into a (nuclear) sunset, "the battle is won but the war is not over". I have a nagging feeling that this movie focus more on Marcus Wright, not John Connor. It's nice McG paid tribute to the original movies but maybe just a tad too much, without any newer, exciting plot to sustain the interest. Also, there is not enough attention to the characters development. Typical of McG, everything is very "showy" with fast pace, heavy edit actions and big, big explosions which scores on style but lacking substance. Here's hoping more could be done in part v, if there's one.