The latest bid at reinstating some faith in the franchise after a disastrous third outing comes from American director McG – a man who, not satisfied with completing one terrible Charlie's Angels film, decided to go on to make a worse one.

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Set in the post-apocalyptic future established at the end of the last film, Terminator Salvation follows John Connor as he begins taking command of the human resistance in the fight against Skynet and its army of machines.

Taking on the role of Connor is Christian Bale, who brings his trademark angry mumbling to the role to show the character's progression from renegade youngster, through nerdy outcast, to battle hardened leader.

The cantankerous superstar is, however, rapidly becoming typecast into such roles, and following on from the success of both Batman films it feels much like the actor has lost his conviction, dropping the same template into a slightly different role.

An early scene showing Connor snarling monosyllabic commands down a radio following a helicopter crash borders on becoming laughable and highlights irony of such a robotic, emotionless performance from the supposed saviour of humanity.

The film's plot is also bewildering and shallow. Following the introduction of Marcus Wright, a death row prisoner executed in the present day who signs his body up for Skynet experiments and wakes up in the future, the film takes a staggeringly unsurprising twist when, after being picked up by Connor, it emerges he has some mechanical inclinations.

Played by newcomer Sam Worthington, Marcus helps an untrusting Connor to find a Skynet base where the teenage resistance fighter who will become his father, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), is being held captive and attempts to help free him.

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Much like the T-800 in Terminator 2, the expectation is that viewers should endear to Marcus as a machine which believes it is human, but Worthington's static, vacuous performance makes it hard to empathise with the character in any way.

Glaring plot holes are obvious throughout and basing the narrative around the introduction of a new character, rather than focusing on the new hard as nails Connor and the rise of his leadership, was clearly an error.

Issues which could have proved interesting are glimpsed at but never exposed, and the split in resistance members between those who support Connor and those who believe him to be a false messiah is a prime example of this.

McG does pull out all of the stops for action however, and the film is a near none-stop race of stunts and set pieces which rarely disappoint –– with an extended freeway chase being one of the major highlights.

Frustratingly, though, the climax of the film never really pulls anything out of the bag. McG clearly has an eye for action and a flare for creative, exciting filming, but the rapid fire pace of the film throughout makes the fumbling finale all the more obvious.

Taken in on its own merits, Terminator Salvation is far from the worst film you will see this year. But in a greater context of the much loved franchise, the film will leave audiences and fans disappointed.

2/5