Finally saw this yesterday!
Awesome film in my opinion, i left the theater feeling a sense of relief and all i could think of for the next 20 minutes was how the movie totally restored my faith in the Terminator series. This movie actually had really few flaws in my opinion.
The casting was pretty much perfect. Everyone did a great job on screen. Christian Bale was an awesome John Connor, really don't think anyone could have pulled it of better. He portrayed a man who had lived through the hell of knowing his destiny and the importance of it from early childhood perfectly. Used to think i'd find it hard to see anyone buy Edward Furlong portray Connor, especially after hating Nick Stahl in the third movie, but Christian Bale aced it. THANK YOU!
Having just seen Star Trek i wasn't so sure about Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese at first (tho i did like him in Star Trek,
), but after just two scenes i was sold. He might not be Michael Biehn but he does seem like he could look like a young version of Kyle Reese. Kudos to him for that acomplishment and his portrail of a lost young man trying to become part of the Rebellion.
Bryce Dallas Howard played Kate Connor replacing, Claire Danes, didn't really have a problem with Claire Danes in Rise of the Machines, but Bryce did probably make Kate a bit more believable (altho she didn't have that much screentime).
As for Marcus Wright, i was really sceptical at first. Constantly thinking "how are they going to use this character and will it work?
". Took me quite a while to settle on the matter, but i think they probably made him the best "good-terminator" so far. Concidering Arnold has this role in the second and third movie, overstepping that feat might not be so hard in reality, but still Sam Worthington played his Terminator a LOT better. Should also be said that going a whole Terminator movie without any Arnold quotes felt good for a change, even tho they trademark the earlier movies.
Besides the casting the cinematography and effects were also really well done. This movie gave you a great post-apocalyptic feel from start to finish. Desert scenes swamps, ruined cities, it has everything and the camera is always in the right place at the right time.
Soundtrack is awesome, Danny Elfman did an incredible job and i was always sucked in by the music. Also loved how they inserted a little bit of "You Could Be Mine" in the movie, even without making it a cliche repeat. I actually don't think most people will even notice unless they're a Guns N' Roses fan or at least a Terminator fan.
Like i said at the beginning very few flaws in this entire movie. One or two actions bits that might be considered slightly over the top, but nothing that ruins anything and doesn't really affect the experience at all.
I'd rate this 9 out of 10. GO SEE IT!