'Terminator' fails to impress critics

Terminator Salvation has been met with generally unfavourable reviews by US film critics.

The hotly-anticipated sci-fi sequel, directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington, has failed to impress the movie industry's top reviewers.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times said that the blockbuster "raises many questions about the lines between man and machine. Raises them, and then leaves them levitating", adding that the relentless action sequences "give all the pleasure of a video game without the bother of having to play it".

Time's review criticised Christian Bale's performance as freedom fighter John Connor, calling it "surprisingly soulless, hitting the same dour notes he uses for Batman", while The Hollywood Reporter said that "there's little sign of life where the flatly executed human component is concerned".

Screen International's John Hazelton said that the film possesses "very little of the human drama - or humour - that gave the original films their broader appeal".

The New York Times, however, was happier with the franchise's latest entry, noting that it has "a brute integrity lacking in some of the other seasonal franchise movies" and "feels both comfortable with its limitations and justly proud of its accomplishments".

Terminator Salvation opens today in the US and in the UK on June 3.

> Video: 4 minutes from Terminator Salvation