Terminator Genisys

The Next Terminator Film

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The second trailer for the next Terminator film, Terminator:Dark Fate, has gone online over the last couple of days. I had a look at it today during my lunch break and i still have some major reservations, but I’m not quite as anxious as I was.

A little background. Terminator 2: Judgement Day is my favourite movie of all time. I saw it at just the right time for it to embed itself into my DNA. It blew me away! After seeing The Terminator I found I loved that one as well. Terminator 2 is still my favourite movie, but The Terminator is a fantastic movie. Then Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines came out. If I was listed top to bottom my favourite Terminator films this would be second from bottom. I love the concept, showing how Judgement Day went down should have been a wet dream for me. It wasn’t. It tried to be too funny, I think the casting was off and I’d have liked to have seen it having a bigger scope to it. This was the film that should have sown the rise of Skynet. It should have detailed it and given us an epic movie showing this all happening. It didn’t though.

After Terminator 3 we had Terminator:Salvation. Now I like Salvation a lot. I was super excited with the thought of a movie showing us what we’d only seen in flashbacks before. I’ll admit I was worried about McG directing it. I’m also not the biggest Christian Bale fan, but I do enjoy it. I didn’t really care for the Marcus Wright storyline, and I’d have liked to of seen the piles of bones you saw in the flashbacks from the first two films. I didn’t like how Connor became the leader of the resistance. It felt lazy and has been done repeatedly on screen. It did have strong points though. Anton Yelchin was fantastic as a young Kyle Reese. I loved the fact that so much of it took place during the day. So many films nowadays have to have all the action at night. The visuals of the film, and the score, were really good.

Ugh, I suppose I ought to address Terminator: Genisys. Okay. I like Emilia Clarke a lot, but I’m not sure this was the role for her at this time in her career. I’ve a lot of respect for her for giving it a go though. Jai Courtney is a good actor, but he isn’t a leading man in my opinion. Just look at how good he is in Suicide Squad. Jason Clarke didn’t sell me if I’m honest. Arnold Schwarzenegger was good, but he was born to play this role. I wish they wouldn’t keep trying to make him comedic in these films though. What they did with him in Terminator 2 worked for that film. It hasn’t in any of the rest of these films. The storyline wasn’t great and had some huge plot holes in. What I really hate about this film though is it erases the first two films from the existence. That and the fact they waste Byung-Hun Lee, J.K. Simmons, and Matt Smith. You just have to watch Matt Smith in his few scenes in the film to see the quality he has. Why wasn’t he Kyle Reese? But that wouldn’t solve the plot problems. Something that also annoyed me was the big reveal about one of the main characters in the trailer! Like really? Don’t you think that would have been better to reveal when people are in the cinema!?!

Terminator: Genisys feels like a slap in the face of the fans who love this world. They tried to take away the two best films in the series, and I still don’t understand why?

Right, I’m going to (try to) stop ranting.

On to Terminator: Dark Fate. I’m comforted by Linda Hamilton returning. I’m a little anxious about Schwarzenegger though. Is he playing another old terminator? Will he be the comic relief? I’m 50/50 on James Cameron’s involvement. I seem to recall him praising Terminator: Genisys. I like that Tim Miller is helming the film. I liked what he did with Deadpool and I hope he pulls this off. I like the look of Gabriel Luna, he was really good as Ghost Rider in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I like that Mackenzie Davis is in this. I’ve only seen her in The Martian and Blade Runner 2049 but thought she was good in both, especially Blade Runner 2049. I’m looking forward to seeing what they both do in this movie.

There was what I think of as a reveal in the trailer. I’m not sure it’s a big one but why not keep it vague so people learn it when they see the film for the first time? This isn’t jut a problem with Terminator films, its something that needs to be made extinct.

I am anxious about this movie. I want to go into the cinema and have all my sweet spots hit with it, but I’ve been burned before (damn you Genisys), so I’m not going to let myself get too excited about Terminator: Dark Fate.

The Future of the Terminator Movies

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A couple of weeks ago a few articles began to appear on social media that James Cameron will be regaining the rights to the Terminator movies in 2019, and that he is eyeing Deadpool director Tim Miller to play a part in future instalments.

Now, from what I can make out this is just all rumours, but if there is some truth to it then it could be a game-changer for the Terminator movies. Cameron was the man who built the universe in the first two movies, and I’d like to think that he could take them back to that dark and gritty universe that he created. If we look at the films that he wasn’t involved in, Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines, Terminator: Salvation, and Terminator: Genisys, none of them hit home. Each one failed in one way or another (although I’m quite fond of Salvation as it took the story to the future, after Judgment Day, and it almost hit the mark), and didn’t have anything that really matched up to Cameron’s original two movies. I’ve got a special distaste for Genisys as it erases almost all of those two original movies, and T3 and Salvation, from the timeline. I’ve tried watching it multiple times, and will most likely try multiple times again, but I can’t see me ever liking it. I know filmmakers don’t go out to make a bad movie, and I hope they didn’t write the script with the intention of pissing fans off with what they done in the movie. I personally think they just wanted to get away from the original films and do something different to what we’d seen before.

If Cameron is coming back to the series he could still make something that doesn’t match up to what he did with the first two movies, but I’ve got more faith that he’ll give us something that has depth, quality, consistency, attention to detail, and some respect for Terminator 1 & 2.

We’ll have to wait and see though.

Terminator Genisys

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I am a huge fan of the first two Terminator movies, I’m not as fond of the third film but I liked the fourth movie a lot. I seem to be in the minority about Terminator: Salvation, and I can understand some of the critism of the movie. I was hopeful if another Terminator film was made then we’d get another film set in the future after Judgement Day had happened. I would have liked to have seen where the battle with the machines went before the humans had them all but beaten and the machines had to send a Terminator back to kill Sarah Connor. Instead we’ve got a film which looks like it goes back to before the first Terminator film took place.

Now, obviousy I haven’t seen the film yet, but this does make me a touch nervous. After watching one of the trailers it looks like they’ve made this film in a way that will allow them to start again from when the film takes place, which looks to be mainly taking place in the 80’s, which was when the original film took place.

I would have loved for them to carry on after Salvation, as I said earlier, but this is the way the movies are going and I really hope they pull it off. I have my reservations though. The RoboCop reboot was good, but it didn’t match up to the original film and I fear this Terminator reboot will be the same. I know the director, Alan Taylor, director Thor: The Dark World and a number of episodes of Game Of Thrones (I know he has done more than that but those are what I know him best for) so I’ve got some hope that it is going to work out well but I still fear that it won’t match up to the first two movies.

I am looking forward to seeing Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor though. She’s a dead ringer for Linda Hamilton and after seeing Clarke in Game Of Thrones we know she can act.

Despite my reservations I will be in the cinema to see this movie. I hope they can pull it off.