Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagJohn Connor (in Terminator Genisys)

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man with smoking head - vaudeville villain

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
Deprived of the natural motivations they started the story with, the characters become carbon cutouts of clichés that people have seen over and over again. Read More ›
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Blurred silhouette of a child behind a glass door in the darkness (symbolizing sadness, loneliness, horror or fear)

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
Making John Connor a villain also removes Sarah’s motivation to fight Skynet. Without that, she’s just another generic tough girl fighting an army of robots. Read More ›
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Contrasting Headwear Symbolizing White Hat and Black Hat SEO Techniques

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?
The way writers make fantasy engaging — and sci-fi is a form of fantasy — is by anchoring the hard-to-grasp concepts with familiar ideas. Read More ›
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old warehouse on a wharf at night

Terminator Genisys Review, Part 6: Things Certainly Speed Up

But unfortunately, that means that built-in complications become even more tangled
Curiously, once Kyle Reese is safe, he is transformed from a confident, well-meaning soldier into an idiot with a surprising lack of common sense. Read More ›
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Chrono-Luminescence: Futuristic Light Tree Illustrating Divergent Timelines in Digital Forest

Terminator Genisys Review, Part 5: Too Many Terminators in Here!

The chaos created by tampering with the timeline of the franchise continues
The problem with resetting the timeline is that the audience’s emotional stake in the outcome necessarily diminishes when no events are permanent. Read More ›
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ai robot world domination background

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
A critical plot decision — to give Skynet a key piece of information — makes Skynet’s Terminator strategy seem incoherent. Read More ›