A List of Some Things I Hate:
1) Action sequences that are heavily reliant on poor, patent CGI.
2) Action sequences that are heavily reliant on quick-cut editing.
3) Artificial, dry cinematography that accompanies the CGI, speedy-cut action sequences.
4) CGI, speedy-cut action sequences that are so absurd to the point where the viewer can feel no tension or apprehension for the individuals involved.
5) Plots that are tiresome, repetitive, and rely on a predecessor’s structure.
6) R-rated movies that are borderline PG-13 movies. Like, why? WHY?
7) When a movie reveals that it has some potential but completely wastes it because it decided to follow comments #1-6.
There hasn’t been an objectively justified Terminator movie since the machine-gun-blasting, arm-chopping, eye-popping, Sarah Connor-socking, Edward-Furlong-whining, Arnold-Schwarzenegger-fighting action masterpiece T2: Judgement Day. Since then, we’ve been treated with a regularly scheduled program of Terminator movies that have continued to get inferior and inferior by the sequel.
Luckily, Terminator: Dark Fate just barely breaks this curse—notwithstanding the fact that that isn’t saying much. The blockbuster, in essence, finds its strong points in the character arcs that it amends or introduces with its main leads—especially for returning legends Sarah Conner and the Austrian-accented Terminator himself.
In the midst of the semi-passable, mundane wreckage, however, the movie’s fate lies within its atrociously executed action spectacles, cringy dialogue, and its all too familiar plot that unapologetically bootlegs the fragments of some of its sturdier forerunners. The spirit of what made James Cameron’s The Terminator and Judgement Day a cinematic celebration to never forget seems to still be terminated amongst this hopefully endangered franchise.
Verdict: D+
“Terminator: Dark Fate” is now playing in theaters.
Burning the Celluloid 
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