In a recent podcast with KCRW Terminator: Dark Fate director Tim Miller expressed that he didn’t understand why his movie bombed at the Box Office. While seeing this smug git display a surprised Pikachu face after opening weekend is all well and good it doesn’t mean much if the fool doesn’t actually learn something from the experience.
In that spirit here are a few reasons why the movie bombed.
1. You Killed John Connor.
Killing the savior of mankind, the nexus of the Terminator series might fly whilst in a coke-infused delirium on a Friday night but it is not a smart move under the cold light of day. What most fans wanted from the Terminator series is a capper, a denouement, the icing on the proverbial cake. This entails showing the last war, the beating back of Skynet and that closing of the circle where John sends Kyle Reese back in time to round out what should have been a perfect trilogy.
What they do not want to see is you chucking their hero to the side so that you could gain some woke points. The fact that his ‘replacement’ was a midget with the military aura of Elmer Fudd didn’t help either.
For many people the moment you killed John was the very moment you killed any chance for the film.
2. The Action and Effects Were Too Unrealistic.
Despite being science fiction one of the elements of T1 and T2 is that they were considered nonetheless gritty and grounded in reality and the effects were good. Damn good.
With people fighting on planes toppling out of the air and leaping about on vehicles doing the same, Terminator: Dark Fate seemed more like a Fast and Furious or comic book movie than a Terminator movie. Some of the elements were simply too outlandish and didn’t belong in the film.
3. Your Movie Was a Boring Repeat of T2.
Many have noted that the film is basically T2 with gender and race reversals. Add in the subpar special effects and action and the comparisons to the classic place this film in an even harsher light. If you are going to crap on the legacy of a series you can at least be original about it.
The only thing people hate more than a copycat…is a bad one.
Related: Terminator: Dark Fate Director Calls Fans ‘Trolls and Misogynists’
4. You Got Woke.
“Poetry and politics rarely mix, poetry and propaganda never.” — The Tommyknockers
You slapped in an androgynous hulk and some brown people because you wanted to show how such a brave and bold ally you were. For whatever reason you embraced the foul stench of identity politics and infused your work with it.
Perhaps you didn’t realize that we are still in the midst of a culture war where the straight white male is demonized as the greatest evil the world has ever known. A white male playing into that, supporting that agenda seems…strange. At worst you believe that you are indeed evil and should be exterminated at best you were trying to cash in on an abhorrent ideology for financial gain.
To quote the great Ellen Ripley:
“I don’t know which species is worse. You don’t see them f***ing each other over for a goddamn percentage!”
What you didn’t realize and what you better remember in the future is that SJWs don’t support work financially…they just destroy them.
Do you remember this quote?:
“If you’re at all enlightened, she’ll play like gangbusters. If you’re a closet misogynist, she’ll scare the f–k out of you, because she’s tough and strong but very feminine. We did not trade certain gender traits for others; she’s just very strong, and that frightens some dudes. You can see online the responses to some of the early s–t that’s out there, trolls on the internet. I don’t give a f–k. “
We do.
Perhaps you ‘give a f-k’ now? Ironically, many say they liked the Grace character (I am not among them) but to attack your potential audience because they may not is a foolhardy and as you can now see fatal mistake.
These are just a few of the reasons why your movie failed that I have heard. I’m sure there are more. I have my own reasons why I despised the film, you can read about those in my movie review.
Here endeth the lesson.
