Terminator: Dark Fate Trailer Reactions - 6 Ups & 6 Downs

Ups

6. The Fast & Furious Vibes

Where Terminator: Genisys went wrong was by introducing a lot of silliness (like the father/son-in-law daftness of Pop and Jai Courtney's relationship and the whole time travel thing) but pretending that it was still a serious film. The film-makers got the tone tragically wrong and we were fed what was supposed to be a high-concept, highly complex sci-fi with weirdness bolted on that seemed to have been written by a high-functioning toddler.

While the first half of this trailer provides a similar vibe, by the end, it's gone full Fast & Furious with planes crashing into each other and into cars and the suggestion that this is going to be more on the brainless action side rather than it trying to pretend to be sci-fi high-art. After all, the first two Terminators weren't great because they aspired to be smart or over-written, they were great because they were entertaining and used a strong concept efficiently. Since then, the conceit has been balled up into so much nonsensical sci-fi lore that it's lost its appeal.

Hopefully, Tim Miller is bringing back something a bit more purely entertaining and the hints are certainly there.