TERMINATOR SALVATION

TERMINATOR SALVATION, based on the previous TERMINATOR movies, finds John Conner, the prophesized leader of the Resistance against the world dominating machines, going on a quest to find his father who holds the key to stopping world annihilation. After Skynet, an evil organization run by clever machines, wiped out most of humanity with a nuclear holocaust, the human survivors formed a Resistance movement made up of small bands of soldiers.

In 2003, in the movie’s prologue, Marcus, a man on death row, agrees to donate his body to science. However, he wakes up in 2018 to discover that he is now part machine and part human, a cyborg. John Conner must decide if Marcus is an ally or a spy for Skynet.

As the Resistance, using a new technology, attempts to launch an all-out invasion of Skynet’s main headquarters, John learns that his father is being held prisoner at that facility. His father, who originally went back in time to save John’s mother, is now a teenager. The Resistance commander calls for the invasion of Skynet, but Connor goes against the order and uses his skills of persuasion to hold off the invasion until he can rescue the humans.

The story in TERMINATOR SALVATION is mostly non-stop action, though there is a bit more plot development than in previous TERMINATOR movies. There are a couple of unforeseen twists, and the movie ends on a note of sacrifice for others.

The acting in TERMINATOR SALVATION is top notch, especially for an effects-driven action movie.

There is a strong theme of sacrifice as a character willingly dies to save another. There is frequent reference to a second chance at life, new life and even a reference to being born again. Also, it’s noted that a “heart” is what separates people from machines. Also, the Resistance is made of mostly of good, moral people trying to save humans from the evil machines. Finally, when Marcus is about to be executed in a cross position, a preacher reads Psalm 23.

However, for all of the end-of-humanity discussions as John Conner and his cohorts fight the evil machines, God or Jesus Christ are not mentioned in that part of the movie, save for one profanity. Therefore, there is an underlying Christian allegory with overt references to born again, but it seems implausible that none of these people who encounter the near end of the world – or at least the near end of humanity – would not call out to God at least once or still have some forms of religion and religious belief.

Of interest to fans of the previous movies, a digitized Arnold Schwarzenegger as the original Terminator appears in an action sequence as a machine trying to kill the hero.

There is plenty of intense violence in TERMINATOR SALVATION, but almost no blood and very few people dying on screen. In fact, most of the dying characters are killed in explosions, and much of the violence and gunfire is aimed at robots. Happily, there is very little foul language in this PG-13 movie and no sex scenes, even hints of any.

One minor note is that the Schwarzenegger character is a robot with skin, and he, at first, appears as a naked man. Nothing revealing is shown as parts of his body are blurred out or covered up by the framing of the shot.

TERMINATOR SALVATION is a fun, action movie that’s missing much of the potential negative content. Media-wise viewers probably will want to discuss the movie’s themes of what makes someone a human, in light of the biblical fact that humans are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children due to the movie’s intense action violence.