CategoryScience Fiction
Terminator Dark Fate: The “Family” Robot
Part 5: The idea that the robot Carl mechanically evolves a conscience is introduced but never explained
Terminator Dark Fate: We Meet the Sender of the Mystery Texts
At this point in the story, our characters clash with Border Patrol — and discover a Terminator with a conscienceLast Saturday, we saw that Sarah, Grace and Dani, realized that the person sending Sarah the mysterious texts was living precisely where Grace was supposed to go if she ran into trouble. Because the address is in Texas our dysfunctional trio must cross the border. Dani knows a guy she convinces to help them. Well, actually Grace cuts a fly in half, and that convinces him. But anyway. While traveling to the border, they hop on top of a train with a bunch of undocumented immigrants. During this ride, Sarah comes to believe that Dani is really another her. Sarah seems happy to relinquish her fatalistic mantle, but Grace is annoyed by this development. A less likeable Grace I mention Read More ›
Terminator Dark Fate: Just Too Many Johns Now
Here’s Part 3 of my review: How multiverses and time travel can doom a story
Terminator: Dark Fate: Welcome to the New Future
Which turns out to be the same as the old one. Here’s Part 2 of my review
Terminator Dark Fate: Not As Bad As Genisys But Close
Here in Part 1, we also look at rumors of a new Terminator project in the works. Could some of the mistakes that plagued earlier films be avoided?
Terminator Genisys Review, Part 10: Too Many Time Machines!
Terminator Genisys was simply removed from the canon, and for good reason, as we will see
Terminator Genisys Review Part 9: When Writers Hate a Character
Essentially, the writers hated John but knew the audience loved him, so they tried to hide their attitude; however, their contempt leaked into the script
Terminator Genisys Review Part 8: The Evil Child Murders the Film
The screenwriters tried to adapt the Evil Child theme from horror films without allowing enough time to build the needed suspense
Terminator Genisys Review, Part 7: Now John Connor Is the Bad Hat
Why don’t Hollywood screenwriters understand the importance of what the audience thinks is at stake?
Terminator Genisys Review, Part 6: Things Certainly Speed Up
But unfortunately, that means that built-in complications become even more tangled
Terminator Genisys Review, Part 5: Too Many Terminators in Here!
The chaos created by tampering with the timeline of the franchise continues
Terminator Genisys Review, Part 4: The Fatal Flaw, Revisited
Genisys didn’t perform well but it makes a good illustration of the issues science fiction writers face
Terminator Genisys Review, Part 3: Genisys’ Fatal Flaw
Terminator Genisys was seen in the industry as so bad that another sequel was proposed that effectively wiped this timeline from the canon
Terminator Genisys Review Part 2: A Colossal Monster Mash
The writers wanted the recreated scenes to be fond “memory berries” for the audience but they ran into problems setting them up properly
Terminator Genisys Review, Part 1: What Was the Point?
When filming a sequel, it’s important to draw on the previous story, to keep the viewer emotionally invested in the characters
Terminator Salvation: Parting Thoughts on a Classic Technique
What the film does wrong, it does wrong in spectacular fashion, but what it does right is also done in spectacular fashion
Terminator Salvation Review, Part 5: A Clever Plot Rescue
Having Marcus unexpectedly sacrifice his life for John got around the problem created when the audience "knows" that the hero is doomed
Terminator Salvation (2009) Part 4: Marcus, Unwitting Terminator
Marcus learns the horrible truth from Skynet that his mission was to terminate John Connor