Terminator Salvation works well in its role as the first movie in a trilogy. Fans of the Terminator mythos will be very happy, while others simply looking for a good movie will be a bit lost due to the little time spent on backstory or character development. Action scenes were constant, intense, at times scary (that first crawling T-600? Geez!), and never felt too over-the-top. The acting isn't perfect, but is nowhere near cringe-worthy. Effects are top-notch, especially Arnold's scene. The nods to previous films are done tastefully and never seem tacked on. Being a fan, having moderate knowledge of the mythos, I knew enough to understand and appreciate the plot. For others, this is still a great action flick.