The future always looks so damn bleak. Particularly if you’re a member of the London Olympic Games committee; not only is it a huge expense, but according to the recent cinematic release 2012, it’s also going to be the year the world ends. Bummer. Let’s just hope that the British team can get a couple of gold medals before that happens.

And if this film is anything to go by, a few year’s further down the line, it’s looking even less rosy. Joy.

It’s 2018, and despite the efforts of those in the first three films to prevent Judgement Day from happening – well, it did. The machines have indeed taken over, and they’re out to squash what little human resistance is left. Heading the good fight is, of course, the grown-up John Connor (Christian Bale), who has happened upon a radio frequency that could, once and for all, shut down Skynet forever.

At the same time, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) – a prisoner on death row in 2003, who signed his body over to Cyberdyne Systems for medical research before being executed, wakes up in 2018. It’s not long before he finds himself being chased by a robot, and finds help from a young man and his mute girl companion. His name is Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), who just so happens to be John Connor’s dad (to-be).

A kill list falls into the hands of the resistance, which contains the names of those that Skynet intend to kill in four days time. Because of this, the powers that be want to strike against Skynet immediately. However Connor is against the idea, because not only is his own name on the list, but more importantly, so is his father’s – Reese. He, more than anyone, is highly aware of the importance that Reese has on not only his destiny, but also that of mankind’s. He therefore sets out to find him, before the robots come out to play and destroy them all.

This fourth instalment, directed by the very capable McG (real name Joseph McGinty Nichol) was not only widely panned by critics, but also produced the weakest box office revenue from the Terminator franchise to date. Sometimes though, critics get it wrong. Not us of course, but you know, the rest of them.

Terminator Salvation is an excellent addition to the Terminator series that not only continues the story, but pushes it along a bit. McG is aware that the franchise calls for a lot of doom and gloom and adheres to it. However, the action sequences are probably the most impressive seen so far, although none really match the impact of some of the more iconic Arnie scenes of old.

Where audiences might have felt a little let down is in the overall feel of the film. For the most part it’s Mad Max meets the Transformers. If you like both of those, there’s no reason you won’t love this. The set pieces are action-packed and breath-taking – of that there’s no doubt, but because it whiffs of both those huge films, there’s simply no sense of originality. The post-apocalyptic look has really been done to death now; in fact it often eerily resembles the recent game Fallout 3’s world as well.

It’s a cheap shot to pick on the dialogue, but really, the script won’t win any awards either. Except perhaps a handful of those they give out to really awful ones. But if you really expect to hear meaningful dialogue in a Terminator flick, you’ve only got yourself to blame.

It’s Achilles heel though (and if you’re interested, for future reference perhaps, in case the world does get all Skynet-ted up – a quick jab with something pointy to the base of a terminator’s neck should do the trick) is in its casting. Christian Bale is an excellent actor, but like Batman (we’d even go as far to say that Clooney was a better one), the role of John Connor won’t win him any new fans. It is so devoid of personality that he could well be a robot in disguise himself.

He doesn’t do himself any favours either, having to share the action duties with new Aussie actor Sam Worthington, who on screen is the epitome of the action hero. It’s no wonder that James Cameron, who cast him in his upcoming, budget-busting Avatar, personally recommend him for the role. Worthington doesn’t steal the scenes he’s in, they simply surrender themselves to him. So Crowe and Jackman may well have to work a little harder to get the roles they want in future, as there’s a new name to throw on the barbie.

Another young actor who holds his own is Anton Yelchin as Reese. Many will know him from the latest Star Trek voyage, but he really made an impact in the sadly short-lived US series Huff as Byrd. He’s lost a little weight around the chops since then – puberty can do that to a fella - and puts in a solid performance.

But despite all these minor gripes, it’s difficult to not actually enjoy the film. Sure, it brings nothing new to the Terminator table – except making it that little bit more stable being it’s the fourth instalment – but even though it rates poorly in a box office comparison with the last one (Rise of the Machines) it’s a far superior film.

The Blu-ray comes with some nice little extras too. There’s the theatrical release and the Director’s Cut, although the latter is only four minutes longer than the original. Plus a fairly thorough ‘Maximum Movie’ mode, which has McG guiding you through the whole film, with lots of added info thrown in for good measure. On top of that there are eleven mini featurettes, plus MovieIQ and the rather pointless chat option.

The one thing that would have been nice would have been Bale’s now notorious on set rant, which thanks to the internet, has been around the world four times over and then some. Strangely enough though, it’s not included.

McG has helmed a real sci-fi spectacle, one that certainly deserves its place in the Terminator chronicle, despite what the nay-sayers would have you believe. Besides, there really aren’t enough films made about man vs bots these days.