Latest screening: Terminator Salvation

Okay so it isn't T1 or T2 but Terminator Salvation (which wisely avoids the abbreviation that in the UK would forever make teenagers think it was the big-screen adaptation of a weekend morning kid-culture show) is a perfectly serviceable sequel.

I can see why fanboys got up in arms, it does have huge leaps in logic that kinda make no sense and it doesn't really live in a universe that could have followed on from the original 2 films. But like T3 (why send the Terminatrix back when she was clearly an inferior model to T2's T-1000?) any normal person won't really care. There's good and bad here but you mostly only notice the bad in the first half and get so caught up in the second half you'll forget all that and enjoy it.

The main negative is that, like its star, it could desperately use a sense of humour. This is played dead serious. Batman Begins serious, only that had Michael Caine's Alfred so more than that. Not that the Terminator's need humour. The classic '84 original had little humour and was awesome regardless. The third film over-played the humour and that was its biggest failing. But this all feels a little po-faced, especially in the 1st half when there's not a lot of action. I also found myself really missing Arnold during the first half. These characters just aren't as interesting as the Austrian oak was to watch.

Still it picks up. Once key plot elements come into play in the second half and the action steps up you get swept along with it. And the action and effects are excellent, really well staged. The film is genuinely exciting in these latter stages and the climax had me almost as on the edge of my seat as the climaxes of T1 and T2.

There are little issues. Bryce Dallas Howard and Michael Ironside are completely wasted. Sam Worthington's accent slips occasionally and while paying homage to the originals in nice touches and, oddly, The Great Escape it does blatantly rip things off from everything from Transformers to Cloverfield! It is nice to see that in a post-apocalyptic world dental hygiene is still LA excellent though!

Generally this surprised me. It may of helped i had verylow expectations but i enjoyed it and like Godfather Part 3 and the last two Alien films i feel as a stand alone movie it would seem much better than it may if simply compared to stunning originals. It may be an entirely unnecessary sequel but it is enjoyable entertainment and i'm fine with that.