Terminator Splits Critics

Critics agree on one thing about Terminator Salvation: It’s loud. As to whether quality matches volume, opinion runs the gamut:

• AO Scott, in the New York Times, praises director McG’s “efficient, reasonably swift storytelling” and “mastery of the vernacular of chases, fights, explosions and crashes.” “Comfortable with its limitations and justly proud of its accomplishments,” the film “has a brute integrity lacking in some of the other seasonal franchise movies.”

• Betsey Sharkey agrees that for Terminator fans, “Salvation is mostly worth it.” “In the countless battle scenes, a sort of metallic madness takes hold, but the tension of the chess match between hunted and hunter has been lost,” she writes in the Los Angeles Times.
• Claudia Puig, writing in USA Today, isn’t won over. “Without Arnold front and center, the heavy-metal fracas is just not much fun.” In the “lackluster” film, Christian Bale’s “Batman-Terminator crossover doesn't work.”

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