The wait is over and TERMINATOR:2018 now reviews director McG's ambitious and sprawling cinematic plan to fight for a sci-fi franchise's future, TERMINATOR:SALVATION.  At long last the story progresses beyond the fiery wall of Judgment Day when the nukes fell at Skynet's order, and humanity was nearly exterminated by its own technological terror.  Yet this future world, artfully desaturated of color but not of drama, holds hope for our survival in the hearts of its two heroes, soldier with a destiny John Connor (Christian Bale) and the mysterious ex-death row prisoner Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington).  While much of the film is a knock-down, winner take all battle between opposing forces, the film's strength arises from these pair of actors who personalize the war through their complimentary performances.  The two combatants are, deep down, as wrecked and ruined as the spectacularly war-torn world they have inherited, yet both bear witness to the film's title that salvation is indeed always possible . . . only if one fights hard enough to grant it.  Humanity has a fighting chance against an army of evolving Terminators, and a venerable, popular franchise has a bright future amid the post-nuclear gloom.

McG has easily surpassed the heights of his career achievements with this bold attack on a new front of Terminator lore, carrying forward the best of what came before while plotting his own directorial course on this barren and bloodied frontier. His style is quite different from James Cameron's meticulous, surgical precision behind the camera, but McG's results are no less detailed nor satisfying.  This is literally a different world than Cameron ever explored in his first two TERMINATOR films: gone is the time travel puzzle of plot complications and pre-destiny playing itself out in the lives of a mother and son.  This future is now unfolding solely on John Connor's watch, and he's a strong a leader as he can be amid the heartbreak of sending countless surviving soldiers off to their deaths in this imperative battle for existence.  Yet life after Judgment Day isn't happening exactly the way Sarah Connor predicted for her destiny-dominated son, as hinted at through cassette tapes left to him courtesy of Linda Hamilton's voice over contributions.  The deadly gap between expectation and reality is being filled with the bodies of human captives collected by Skynet's monstrous Harvester machines, and Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) is now among the missing.  John Connor must revise his all-important battle mission to save Reese, a scrappy late-teenager in 2018 who eventually must jump back in time to become John's own father. Naturally Skynet won't make saving Reese easy for Connor, as the technological collective senses its on the verge of victory, and targeting Kyle only serves to draw Connor out of the underworld fringes.  Should Skynet's Terminators kill both Kyle and John, it knows the war and humanity are over — yet there is one wild card in this deck, and Marcus Wright must forge his own destiny from a shattered past to determine if the war rages on.  The invention, the inspiration of adding Marcus Wright to this seemingly pre-destined storyline begun in 1984 is indeed the salvation of the TERMINATOR franchise, and it's a clever stroke of genius in McG's capable, cunning hands.

The surprisingly tense and occasionally humorous script by John Brancato and Michael Ferris — with perhaps uncredited contributions by the likes of Jonathan Nolan and Paul Haggis among others — beats with just as insistent heart as did Cameron's exacting stories, but with a much rougher style in plot and dialogue which utterly suits this smoke-clouded, debris-strewn future.  For the first time in franchise history, we are ripped out of our contemporary culture safe zone and dropped into a nuke-flatted nightmare as deliberately as the Harvesters toss unfortunate victims into Skynet hoppers for experimentation.  Replacing the precision clockwork of Cameron's scripts and the rather dulled blunt edge of TERMINATOR 3's downer tale, we now view the future from the other end of destiny's telescope where a myriad of mechanical deaths await our one wrong step.

The contentious pairing of Bale and Worthington in the lead roles proves to be inspired casting, as both actors excel in their characters' respective missions while never canceling out the other's strengths on screen.  Christian Bale demonstrates why and how he can be more than the Dark Knight of Gotham, stripped of all his Bat-persona and armed with his trademark intensity.  What remains is an expansion and deepening of John Connor the man, the father-to-be, who fights everyday to save himself as well as those in his charge.  Sam Worthington doesn't shrink from Bale's power for one frame in the film, yet the Australian actor evokes surprising pathos from his inner turmoil and own brand of disillusionment with the future and who he is in it.  This duo creates the unbreakable spine of TERMINATOR:SALVATION and it's a solid foundation upon which a trilogy can and likely will be made with great success.

Though the story focuses intently on the actions and insights Marcus Wright and Connor, the latter's Resistance soldiers offer solid dramatic support.  Bryce Dallas Howard stepped in at nearly the last moment to play Kate Connor, one of the few crossover creations from T3, and she stands vigilantly by her husband's side, urging him to return from hazardous missions for the sake of their unborn child.  Howard walks a delicate balance between worried spouse and surgical officer, and while her character remains pregnant with potential for a next film, she ably serves this film as the key to unlocking John's humanity when he can't afford to show it to others.  Moon Bloodgood plays another strong female in the plot, fighter pilot Blair Williams, who must choose between fulfilling her duty and following her instincts about mysterious Marcus Wright.  From Linda Hamilton to Claire Danes, the TERMINATOR franchise has been empowered by strong, dynamic female characters, and while John Connor now takes center stage, there is no mystery why he trusts his life to the women around him.  This is another encouraging sign of things to come.

Anton Yelchin is enjoying one hell of a busy summer, supporting two major blockbusters with his work, and he certainly shows off his range and talent graduating from STAR TREK's Ensign Chekov to future father of the human savior, Kyle Reese.   While Yelchin wisely avoids imitation of prior actors who originated these respective roles, the young actor has no trouble channeling the intensity and tenderness of Reese, and welcome shades of Michael Biehn color this fine performance.  Alas we see and learn much less about Connor's lieutenant Barnes, portrayed by actor-musician Common, as the script (or at least this edit of the film) offer us little about the battle-hardened soldier to access.  Perhaps his role will expand in the next chapter.  The same cannot be said for Michael Ironside's General Ashdown, who does solid work as the the gruff Resistance leader but, as any fan knows, must make way for John Connor to assume his destined place as humanity's eventual hero. 

Young Jadagrace turns in a silent but effective performance as Star, the speech-reticent survivor in Reese's care who comprises one-half of the Los Angeles Resistance.  McG shows great temperance in guiding the girl's performance, never exploiting her childhood for cheap laughs or sympathy, but instead turning the quiet kid into a watcher and learner who survives by her wits and lending a hand when needed.  Much less fulfilled in character is Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter), who opens the film with Worthington as Marcus sits on death row awaiting execution.  She's a cipher even to Marcus as he signs his mortal remains over to her and this strange corporation called Cyberdyne.  While the implications of Serena are made clear by the film's finale, I expect the full ramifications and revelations about Serena are held in check for a second chapter in this rebooted franchise.  This doesn't give Carter a tremendous amount to work with in the role, except perhaps knowing where she will lead us around the corner in the future.  I expected more from the character and Carter, but time may play that hand in the next round.  By the way, that concept art leaked about Serena's appearance?   Nope.

As noted in T:2018's review of the CD, composer Danny Elfman proves another major contributor to the film's strength with his dynamic, inventive score.  While hitting several of the expected TERMINATOR themes and motifs right on cue (yes, these moments are in the film and not on the CD!), his original scoring proves to be among Elfman's best.  Darkly chaotic but never uncontrolled, Elfman delivers great emotional range from tender heartbreak to triumphant victory in a score which always keeps up but never competes with the bravura of McG's directorial achievement.

Kudos as well to Charles Gibson with Industrial Light & Magic and Stan Winston Studios for their amazing work bring the Terminators to life in ways fans and audiences have never dreamt of before.  The late Stan Winston firmly set his stamp on the franchise, creating the original Terminator characters for James Cameron in 1984, and though he did not live to see this final product, the brilliant elevation of his artform here earns a rightful dedication to his memory and career.  Shane Hurlbut's post-Apocalyptic, silver-tinted cinematography lends an alien quality of light and shadow to this ruined landscape which only enhances the believability achieved by Martin Laing's stunning, epic production design.  As fantastic and foreign as this nightmarish world looks, it's a bountiful feast for the eyes and an all-around talented production team makes every scene palpably believable.

Though some fans expressed doubts — okay, they screamed to the heavens in panic — when McG was picked to direct the film, he's proven them all chumps by deed as 130 minutes unspool to reveal a future for the franchise bright as a the nuke-flash of a mushroom cloud.  Packed with action but never sacrificing relatable human drama for empty shock and awe, TERMINATOR:SALVATION succeeds in its battle to win over longtime fans and new audiences this summer.  Oh yes, and when the T-800 Arnie model makes its appearance, prepare to geek out just a little as the future comes full circle to kick some franchise ass all over again.  He's back, and so is a thought-provoking new evolution in the ongoing TERMINATOR saga!