There’s an axiom that is getting used more and more in journalistic circles: “Get woke, go broke.”
The underwhelming box-office performance of the ultra-feminist and very woke “Terminator: Dark Fate” may very well be reason enough to use that term again. You see, despite the return of producer James Cameron and the reunion of Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the sci-fi action sequel pulled in a horrific $27 million opening weekend on a budget of $185 million (not including another $100 million in marketing costs). According to THR, the movie is projected to lose more than $120 million. Yikes.
Can you say bomb?
“Terminator: Dark Fate,” much like what Rian Johnson did with “The Last Jedi,” flips everything we thought we knew about ‘Terminator’, to the point where fans of the series are starting to jump offboard the ship. Sarah Connor (Hamilton), the beloved female heroine of the first two classic Terminator movies, has her character turned over its head in the name of third-wave feminism.
Much like what 'Last Jedi’ did, the events of T1 and T2 are now almost meaningless in the post-Dark Fate world. Sarah Connor isn’t even the main character this time around. That title goes to Daniella “Dani” Ramos (Natalia Reyes). We’re supposed to believe that this tiny Latina woman will eventually become a resistance leader.
If that’s the case, then the resistance is fucked.
Unlike other Cameron endeavors, where strong female heroines are very much a part of the stakes, (Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley comes to mind), actress Natalia Reyes just doesn’t cut the mustard. Her role isn’t only under-written, but, also, Reyes, whose career has been mostly in Latin American cinema, just doesn’t have the chops to carry this important role forward, she can’t find any shades of credibility within her performance.
I doubt there were complaints about Ripley or Connor in the ‘80s, they were fierce female action heroines because the films they were in didn’t preach a political agenda. They were strokes of perfect casting. The worlds created in those films by Cameron were believable. It was very easy to buy into them because they felt genuine and lived-in. ‘Dark Fate’ has none of that. It feels artificial and detached from reality.
This was done all for the sake of modern Hollywood diversity and inclusion agendas.
The man doesn't stop. James Gunn has confirmed he's already hard at work writing his next film, even as ‘Man of Tomorrow’ makes its way toward theaters next summer.