I’ve been open about my disdain for McG’s new take on Terminator recently. I think he is stomping all over the canon. And it’s sad to me, because it doesn’t seem too hard to make a great movie based on the future war. So much of what McG had to do was already established for him, and he just had to re-create it. But it seems like he’s been trying his hardest to NOT do that.
This latest trailer for Terminator Salvation is a fine example of how McG has taken it upon himself to add in whatever he thinks looks cool. The new trailer is full of several of the nearly 25 new Terminator models, including the giant Harvester and it’s legs, the moto-terminators. I wonder why Reese didn’t tell Sarah about those Harvesters? Seems like a pretty big omission on his part. Kind of odd, don’t you think? Take a look at the trailer if you haven’t already. Lot’s of impressive explosions and even what appears to be some cool fight scenes involving a bare metal Terminator. Cool stuff, right? I wasn’t impressed.
So, I want to make this perfectly clear: You have to know that my statements are coming from the heart of a guy who absolutely loves the Terminator franchise and has dreamed for years about seeing the future war. So it pains me to say those things. But I’m not your typical middle-American, and that’s who McG is marketing the film to, middle-America. It looks like, at least now, he will succeed in that. The film looks to have solid action and great F/X. The story, for everyone who doesn’t know much about the period in which the film is taking place, would be something audiences would love. I’m not gonna argue with that. I’ll definitely see it and I’ll probably even enjoy it on some level. But to me, it’s just not Terminator. It’s giant fighting robots. Wait a second, hasn’t that term been used to describe another big franchise?