Where exactly the ceiling was for "Terminator Salvation" I am not sure. While it is true that the "Terminator" franchise is a big deal on the Hollywood landscape, the third installment ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines") lowered the bar significantly. "Salvation" also features a cast that is 100 percent new to the franchise's fans, other than Linda Hamilton's voice. Arnold Schwarzenegger is busy playing Governor, so the big names that appear before the title are Christian Bale and Sam Worthington.

Yeah, you know, Sam Worthington. He was in... he was that guy in... Okay I have no idea who he is either.

In some sense, then, "Salvation" starts with a clean slate. However, while we get captions and narration to begin the movie, the majority of "Salvation" requires knowledge of the first three films in order to make any sort of sense. If there had been a pause button at the theater, my mother would have used it early and often to ask me clarification questions. As it was, I did my best to fill her in with short snippets like, "That is Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), and when he grows up John Connor (Bale) will send him back in time to the first "Terminator" movie to protect his mom (Hamilton) from Arnold."

Seriously, have you ever tried to explain the basics of "Terminator"? I dare you. And even though "Salvation" on its own is a very basic story, the complexities lie in how just about every character is tied to at least one of the three previous films. The kicker is that while there is no time traveling in "Salvation" there is plenty of referencing it and it turns out it is just as confusing when that is the case.

"Salvation" takes place in the post-Judgment Day world that the first three chapters endlessly referred to. The year is 2018; it must have seemed a lot farther off in 1984 when "The Terminator" debuted. Machines rule the world, and we humans are the threat. If you don't care about the tie-ins with the rest of the franchise, that is all the knowledge you need to get through "Salvation."

Perhaps you're even better off if you are new to the franchise. The special effects are fantastic, and the film is so fast paced that my dad could hardly believe he had sat through a 130-minute movie. "I sat down, the movie started, and then it was over in the blink of an eye!"

Me? I understood the references. I was tickled when they managed to have Connor say, "I'll be back." I even accepted that Yelchin's Kyle Reese would somehow become Michael Biehn just in time to be sent back in time.

On the other hand, where was the usual mano-a-mano fun to the "Terminator" films? "Salvation" starts out hopefully, with Worthington as a death row inmate who agrees to let a scientist (Helena Bonham Carter) have his body for whatever she's working on. So when he wakes up in 2018 as an indestructible human/Terminator hybrid, it seems like a John Connor vs. new-and-improved-Terminator battle is looming.

I don't want to spoil too much, but I will spoil that. That battle never really happens. "Salvation" reduces itself to a plot revolving around Connor trying to ensure the machines don't kill the teenaged Kyle Reese, you know, because if they succeed then Michael Biehn can never be, and neither can John Connor.

So... oh, whatever. The effects are excellent. If that's enough for you, than "Salvation" works.

If you need more, travel back in time and watch the first one again.