James Cameron blamed Dark Fate's failure on the casting, but there was a lot more wrong with the movie that Cameron is not accounting for.
SUMMARY
- Cameron's preference for not hiring older actors contradicts his decision to return to the franchise only if Schwarzenegger was involved.
- Cutting out Hamilton and Schwarzenegger wouldn't have made the film more appealing or profitable, as nostalgia sells tickets in legacy films.
- The excessive use of CGI in Dark Fate, while attempting to replicate the success of the first two films, ended up spoiling the movie and should have been utilized more selectively.
James Cameron recently spoke about the shortcomings of Terminator: Dark Fate, but his criticisms left several things unsaid. Cameron has been an integral part of The Terminator franchise, having dreamed up the series, and writing and directing the first two installments. In those early pictures, Cameron found the perfect duo to lead the action in Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but when it came time to make a third film, the rights had changed hands and Cameron lost interest.
It wasn't until decades later, for Terminator: Dark Fate, that Cameron would finally return to the franchise and be involved as a producer to work on the story for the film. However, after the film's release, James Cameron spoke about Terminator: Dark Fate failing due to the casting of Hamilton and Schwarzenegger, but that doesn't account for other aspects of the film that didn't live up to expectations. Cameron is one of the greatest directors of the modern era, but he isn't infallible, and there is a lot that he got wrong about Dark Fate.
Cameron Wouldn't Return Without Schwarzenegger
If Cameron's preference was to steer clear of hiring older actors, he didn't help that by making his return conditional on Schwarzenegger's involvement (via Screen Rant). Casting two actors who were in the latter half of their careers for the action film might not have been the most exciting choice, but there is no reason that it should have detracted from the project. Both the actors were beloved and still in excellent physical condition, and in addition to that, they were the original stars.
Nostalgia Sells Tickets
Several legacy films that received sequels decades later created massive hype for the franchise and set records at the box office. Cutting out two of the series' main heroes more than they did would not have made the movie more appealing to audiences or ore profitable. Assuming that cutting the two biggest names in the film would have somehow made the film a success is foolish. While it might have reduced the budget by a fairly significant amount, considering how much the stars would afford, it wouldn't have fixed other problems in the sequel.
Cameron Shouldn't Have Killed John Connor
The core of the first two films set up how invaluable and important young John Connor is to the future and putting a stop to the rise of Skynet. So, when Dark Fate almost immediately eliminates the supposed savior of the future, it's shocking, but it feels like it moves beyond just rewriting the events of the films that took place after Terminator 2. Dark Fate was created as another branch of the multiverse in the Terminator franchise, but the decision to kill a young John Connor invalidates the first two films as well as the sequels.
Dark Fate Used Way Too Much CGI
A film can lean into using CGI heavily when the quality matches the output. Cameron's own Avatar films are a shining example of this, with some of the best and most pioneering CGI work of any film and franchise in history, but Dark Fate was not on the same level. Despite the obvious gap in budgets and technical skills, the film relied heavily on CGI to deliver shots that, in theory, felt impressive and like a natural progression to the first two movies, but in such high concentration, they ended up spoiling the film.
This complaint also wasn't something that started after the film was released. When initial footage, trailers, and marketing material were released, the responses online began to address the unusual and poor quality of the film's CGI (via What Culture). The film should have spent more time working on the story and finding moments where using CGI would really count, instead of just throwing out all the ideas it could to replicate and cash in on earlier success. Ultimately, it would have paid off better.
It Didn't Clarify Its Position In The Timeline Enough
Evidently, the fact that Sarah Connor is alive at all is evidence enough to say Terminator: Dark Fate was not continuing the timeline as explored in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. However, the marketing and promo for the film failed to drive home the fact that this story was going back on previous entries. To casual viewers, it would have been easy to mistake the latest movie in the franchise as just that, the latest movie, but, instead, it caused further confusion as the continuity was being irreparably trampled on.
Dark Fate Felt Like A Cheap Replica
The plot of Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator: Dark Fate appear to have several overlapping points. Robots sent back in time to put a stop to the resistance. One robot turns to help humankind; the other, a ruthless, advanced model that can mold its shape and carry out spectacular feats thanks to its liquid metal base, continues to hunt future threats. The final battle then takes place in an empty power plant and the older robot sacrifices himself to keep humanity safe. With so much in common, it almost doesn't make sense to market the film as a sequel.
There are differences, like John Connor died this time, and Skynet has been dismantled and rebranded as Legion, but ultimately those are cosmetic differences. The lack of real change in the story and an updated premise hurt the sequel, and instead of drawing in the crowds that the earlier film enjoyed, Terminator: Dark Fate used almost twice the budget, to earn back half of T2's takings at the box office (via The Numbers). So Cameron is wrong, the casting was not the biggest issue, and a lot could have been done to make Terminator: Dark Fate a better movie.
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