First, I admit I've seen only the first hour of this show. I was prepared to completely hate it. It turns out that it wasn't so bad. The mother character is okay. Not as tough as the Sarah in the movies. Not as smart either.
About Summer Glau, well, what can one say, an intelligent athletic babe acrobatically kicking butt is always a joy to watch. But why did she start acting so mechanical once her true nature was revealed? Did her 'emotion chip' get damaged or something? Anyway I'll blame that on the writers.
The effects are pretty good for a television show. A TV show does not have the effects budget of a Hollywood movie. The TV evil terminators do seem a little dumber and less effective than the ones in movies.
But here is what I don't like, and strongly so. I also found this as the main flaw of the third Terminator movie. And that is the John Conner character. In the T2 movie John was an aggressive, strong character, if not just a little screwed up. But he recovered from surprise quickly and took reasonably intelligent and decisive action when needed. But the John in this new series, like the T3 movie, is a wimp by comparison. In the one scene in the series opener where he is chased into a parking lot by the evil terminator, he shows no tactical thinking. He stupidly glances over the top of a car and gives his position away. Then he cowers down like a frightened bunny until he is cornered and has to be saved by the others. Wait! Wasn't he supposed to be being trained from birth for this kind of thing? He shows not the slightest hint of inner strength. This character is not the resourceful, hardened, military genius of the first two movies.
All in all, it was fun to watch. There were some reasonably well thought out twists, but unless the writers quickly fix the male damsel-in-distress John character, then I don't see the series lasting. Maybe the writers intend to show him developing, but starting him out as so completely useless is a mistake.
About Summer Glau, well, what can one say, an intelligent athletic babe acrobatically kicking butt is always a joy to watch. But why did she start acting so mechanical once her true nature was revealed? Did her 'emotion chip' get damaged or something? Anyway I'll blame that on the writers.
The effects are pretty good for a television show. A TV show does not have the effects budget of a Hollywood movie. The TV evil terminators do seem a little dumber and less effective than the ones in movies.
But here is what I don't like, and strongly so. I also found this as the main flaw of the third Terminator movie. And that is the John Conner character. In the T2 movie John was an aggressive, strong character, if not just a little screwed up. But he recovered from surprise quickly and took reasonably intelligent and decisive action when needed. But the John in this new series, like the T3 movie, is a wimp by comparison. In the one scene in the series opener where he is chased into a parking lot by the evil terminator, he shows no tactical thinking. He stupidly glances over the top of a car and gives his position away. Then he cowers down like a frightened bunny until he is cornered and has to be saved by the others. Wait! Wasn't he supposed to be being trained from birth for this kind of thing? He shows not the slightest hint of inner strength. This character is not the resourceful, hardened, military genius of the first two movies.
All in all, it was fun to watch. There were some reasonably well thought out twists, but unless the writers quickly fix the male damsel-in-distress John character, then I don't see the series lasting. Maybe the writers intend to show him developing, but starting him out as so completely useless is a mistake.