June 3rd, 2009 – 7:02 AM PDT – (Part 4)

Previously on “Daily Distortions”, a mental crisis brought me to the end of the “Daily Distortions”… or so I thought. However, if you know me and you realize that a movie mindset is part of mine, then you know a firm belief I hold… The end is never the end if the words “Return”, “Revenge”, “Rise”, “Last” or “Final” are in the title. Don’t believe me, think about the “Final Destination”, “Final Fantasy”, “Indiana Jones”, or “The Terminator” franchise, especially “The Terminator” franchise, which is what caused me to write this entry.

As a side note, the reason I haven’t been writing this, I’ve just been spending more of my energy writing plays and starting my book, meanwhile publishing the children’s book, prepping for my hormone therapy and finding a job outside of retail. Sounds like I have a great deal on my plate, it is not all smashed together, but the D-Day at the enemy took me by surprise and made me realize I had to get off of my ass and stop whining. So during the interim the posts on this are going to be less frequent—probably once a month as opposed to once a week (or daily as the title implies), but fuck it, this is my blog and I can take my sweet time and talk about whatever the fuck I want.

That in mind, back to Terminator. Last week I saw “Terminator: Salvation” (2009), T4 or Terminator: Franchise Killer (or at least the fanboys it will be). If you’ve been following it online or any of the news then it is being considered the worst in the franchise (or just as bad as “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (2003)), some have even made it out as another unnecessary sequel. On the other side of the coin, many loved it for the action, but wouldn’t call it good. And finally some have said that Terminator was never meant to be a franchise, it should never have gone past “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”.

Another route might have worked better. After being reacquainted myself with “Stargate: SG-1” (1997-2007) and thinking about how it was based on a movie (“Stargate” (1994)) and then had its run and then spawned two films of its own (“Stargate: Ark of Truth” (2007) and “Stargate: Continuum” (2008)) as well as other spin-offs [which I’ll sidenote, but won’t go into “Stargate: Atlantis” (2004-2009), “Stargate: Infinity” (2004), “Stargate: Universe” (October 2009- ) and “Stargate: Project Twilight” (2010)]. Had this been an alternate reality, had Terminator functioned in a franchise such as that, for instance after T2, have “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” for a few seasons and then bookending the franchise with T3, I think it would stood stronger then how showing the war and T4—which was basically a retarded version “Battlestar: Galactica” (2003-2008) except with the Terminators instead of the cylons. Because I think the “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (2008-2009) worked because it was within the original premise of the film. Unfortunately, ending on a cliffhanger in the future (of course, the show was canceled, so that doesn’t really matter) and then the manner T4 presented itself, it is just not the franchise. And I do believe this story could hold, since it has been spawned in other mediums (graphic novels and books). Even though it was fun occasionally, in the end, it just felt like the wrong series.

Personally, I liked it in parts, but not in all, and part of me has to agree because it came off a bit like “The Matrix” (1999) sequels (“The Matrix: Reloaded” (May 2003) and “The Matrix: Revolutions” (November 2003))—the franchise was build around the chase, an unstoppable killer, and preventing human annihilation. Remove those elements it becomes something less. If the movie is about “The Matrix” and you’re showing the war and not spending time in the Matrix itself—where everything is supposed to be happening—then it is not “The Matrix”. Showing the war, showing John Connor in action is where it became less. Even though there was the subplot of someone almost being protected so the future could have its savior (which was the strongest part of the movie, oddly enough), the John Connor elements seemed badly tacked on as if it were part of another film. In fact, the only John Connor scene that actually seemed like a genuine part of the original story’s intentions was the scene that from the second trailer with the terminator and John are looking at one another, face-to-face. The rest of it doesn’t make any sense. I’ll be the first to admit I was actually looking forward to it since it was something that we had glimpses of in the franchise since day one for twenty-five years. However, it is an example of an amalgamation of too many bad elements strung together something through a bad story, a piss-poor script, terrible editing (i.e. bad choices in acting scenes), and horrific directing. I’ll admit, the action sequences were well executed, but mind numbing, even for a summer film. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting the movie to be “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994), nor would I ever claim the original films shared such caliber, but after last summer’s “The Dark Knight” (2008) (that also starred Christian Bale and his groggy voice) proved a summer movie could be action packed and also smart, this was a big let down.

At my level, I am not a fangirl, I don’t claim to be, but I am a Terminator fan which is why I am burning one of my blog entries to touch upon this. Where the “Back to the Future” Trilogy (1985, 1989, and 1990) opened my mind up to the fun adventure end of Sci-Fi which led me into “Red Dwarf” (1988-1999) the original “Star Wars” Trilogy (1977, 1980, and 1983), and the first six “Star Trek” (1979-1989), Terminator led me into the darker reaches of Sci-Fi—“Alien” franchise, “Predator” franchise, “Robocop” franchise, “Akira”, and so forth—and the judgmental systems such as “Sliders” (1994-1999) and Philip K. Dick works. I just find it sad, like it or not, that this probably be the end of the series. Even if there is another sequel or another series or god forbid a reboot, it won’t be Terminator.

What bothers me, last year I thought “The Dark Knight” (2008) would be my swan song to the summer and I am afraid it is for the good memories, for the bad ones, this would be that.