From the “huh, what?” opening credits to the concluding voiceover from a seemingly disconnected Christian Bale (John Connor), Terminator:  Salvation is an exercise in patience.  Not great, but not totally bad either, this film will satisfy moviegoers who come to take in the good old-fashioned loud, short on dialogue violence. The myriad special effects are spot on as viewers are taken along on a fast-paced joyride through a realistically rendered apocalyptic future.  And an exciting over-the-top car/tow truck/ motorcycle-bot chase early on in the film may cause you to forget how to breathe.

But the movie left me pining for, yup, you guessed it, Ah-nold, who, through a not entirely successful homage, appears in a small cameo. Usually a Terminator event is filled with choice bon mots, wry-filled good guys and baddies with a heart of molten metal, and sometimes a female love interest thrown in for good measure.  This latest addition to the series takes these elements to a new level, but in the wrong direction. From start to finish the movie tries its best to undo the hard work the three previous outings accomplished.  With a hard-to-follow premise and logic gaps large enough to drive a Transformer-sized killing machine through, patience again is required to understand the full thrust of the plot.  The fact that the main love interest (Moon Bloodgood) is preoccupied with a secondary character – who was the main draw anyway, the coma guy or John Connor? – lent even more questions to the proceedings.

On the whole, McG, the director who couldn’t find the word subtle if it was smashed into his face, leads us on a fast and furious ride to an ending that, as we, a conditioned Antiguan movie public have come to expect, isn’t really the end.  Look for Terminator V: The Quest for More $$$, coming soon to a theatre near you.

2½ popcorns out of 5