Why People Hate It: There's not enough actual robot fighting, the story is paper thin (and why do we have to have this whole James Bond set up where all the evil plans are explained, when Skynet should probably just be killing their enemies with extreme prejudice?), and one could reasonably make the argument that Christian Bale was miscast as John Connor. Why People Should Hate It: Because it turns John Connor into a generic action hero. Throughout the whole series, we were introduced to this man, this legend, who seemed to succeed not by brute strength, but with his keen intellect and survivalist skills. This was a guy who, at twelve years old, was using computer software to hack into ATMs. Part of what made John Conner so interesting is that he wasn't the big hulking macho guy, he was someone who was clever enough to stay alive and beat the computers at their own game. That is, until Terminator Salvation. Because then John Connor becomes just another gravelly-voiced soldier barking orders. The most frustrating thing is that Christian Bale is a nuanced enough actor that he could have brought so many more levels to the character, but they just didn't seem to be interested in developing their main character. Oh well.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
