Regarding Terminator: Dark Fate
A Friendly Letter to James Cameron and Co.
Dear James Cameron and Company,
How did we get here? It’s been a little over 35 years since the first Terminator film, an action-thriller staple that has stood the test of time due to a unique concept, high quality cinematography, beautiful color correction and lighting, emotional character work, as well as top notch practical effects that were revolutionary at the time. And that’s not even getting into the second film, Judgement Day, which is arguably the greatest action film of all time.
They’re both certainly among my favorites anyway, and having just seen the newest trailer for Dark Fate, I am already certain that this newest iteration will disappoint me fundamentally. I am writing this letter as a formal request to James Cameron and any one else behind the reanimated, beaten corpse of this franchise to please, PLEASE stop making these movies.
How can I know that the film is to be inadequate from a two and a half minute trailer? If you’ll give me the time to elaborate I will demonstrate my thought process.
A Brief Synopsis of T2 and Why That Matters
The first and most immediately important reason that this film shouldn’t exist in the first place is that it undermines the ending of the second film. In the second film, John Connor and his mother Sarah are hunted once again by a Terminator, a new model called the T1000. This model is newer, flashier, and far more dangerous. To protect them, future John Connor sends back a T-100 model, the same model that tried to kill Sarah in the first film. Together, the trio fights back against the T1000, hunting down the origins of Skynet (the evil machines ruling the future) and destroying them, once and for all.
Talk about a thumbs up! This ending is concrete, and powerful, with self-sacrifice, heroism, and the final resolution to the torment that has reigned over Sarah’s life since the beginning of the first film. One could argue that we’ve already left the station in regards to respecting this film’s end with the existence of the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, but with all due respect, that’s nonsense. Each film further brings down the good will of the franchise (although to be fair there are some interesting ideas and some good moments in Salvation, but that’s a different article for a different time).
You Didn't Even Get the Coloration Right
What really rubs me wrong is that if you insist on pushing forward with this franchise the least you could do is make a pretty film to look at. The first two films with their fiery oranges and reds, and oppressive blues and blacks showed the world that an action film not only could but should paint a powerful visual picture on screen. They’re unironically beautiful and dangerous, casting their worlds in uniquely corrected color and high contrast lighting that drenches each scene in atmosphere and emotion, fear and passion, I could seriously keep going but do I need to?!
In sharp contrast, the new film’s coloration is standard, Hollywood, dry. Much like Terminator 3 and 5 before it, this newest schlock has followed the formula into mediocrity. There isn’t a shot in that trailer that evokes anything even half as beautiful as Sarah and Kyle Reese making love or John and the T100 playing together in the desert. Even Salvation’s apocalyptic color choices were at least stark and interesting, if bleak.
To Wrap Up
I don’t mean to be so angsty over a film franchise that lost any cred it may have had with the film prior to this one, but I am sincerely hoping that this last film can be a dying note. I likely won’t be seeing it in theaters unless someone highly recommends it to me, and with reviews already out coming with a combined ‘meh’, I won’t keep my hopes up. I would love to be proven wrong and to see this article age so poorly as to be comical, but I doubt it will.
Sincere Regards, Ian Miller
