If McG's destruction-and-mayhem-packed sequel were simply Generic
Future Robot Wars Movie 101, then it would be perfectly adequate as
mindless summer timepass. The problem is that it bears the name
Terminator, which is not exactly synonymous with "mindless"; as seen
in James Cameron's seminal first two films and the best episodes of
the now-axed TV spinoff, the saga of man versus machine has also
served up doses of involving, character-driven drama as strong as the
jolts of slam-bang excitement. Between the big set pieces, there
isn't much to hang onto here, as Christian Bale is largely just called
on to yell and glower as the adult John Connor; Anton Yelchin's young
Kyle Reese (saddled with a Token Mute Ethnic Kid Sidekick) isn't bad
but isn't memorable; and as mysterious new character Marcus Wright
(the actual lead of the piece), Sam Worthington is adequate given that
he doesn't have a whole lot to work with beyond taking part in action
scenes. Worse though is that, for all the sound and fury, at the end
this film's rather inconsequential story adds virtually nothing, much
less anything of value, to the established storyline, showing just how
completely superfluous this cash grab is. That all said, for those
wanting shallow thrills, this delivers those, and at the very least
the film isn't sloppy nor actively insulting like T3 (whose existence
we shall hopefully forget).