Terminator: Dark Fate director, Tim Miller, sat down with website BoxOfficePro to discuss how he handles criticism of his new movie and the past disappointments of the Terminator fanbase…
BoxOfficePro asked:
“So James was involved in this one, obviously, and he wasn’t involved in the last few. Was his involvement part of the appeal in you coming on board and directing this?”
BoxOfficepro
“Well, I was already on board. But one of the things maybe [that] would have changed my mind [is] if he hadn’t come back. Because one of the first things I said was, the first thing we need to do to make the fans feel like it’s not just going to be another of those sh–[pauses]–I’m not gonna say that. There’s not going to be another in the vein of the [last few] movies. Jim being there means a couple of things. It means that we can get his input on what’s the continuation of that story after T2, but it also is some sort of guarantee of verisimilitude, of accuracy, whatever you want to call it. Some sort of seal of quality that the franchise was going to be handled at least in a way that the original filmmaker would want.
So I thought that was really important, because people had, I think, lost hope. They still have. I mean, you see the reviews coming in are really mixed. I mean, I wouldn’t say mixed, maybe that’s not the right word. Polarized would be a better word. And I think that the people that hate it seem to be people that hate it for reasons that are beyond my control. They hate it because it’s the sixth movie, and Hollywood should be making original movies and not repeating franchises or beating a dead horse blah, blah, blah. It seems that they were, in many ways, pre-decided– “
Tim Miller
“Predisposed to not like the film.”
BoxOfficePro
“Yeah. and I can’t do anything about that.”
Tim Miller
“So reading those bad reviews, it doesn’t bother you?”
BoxOfficePro
“I expect–in fact, the ones that are great kind of make you feel good, because I feel that is a more accurate representation. All the cast and all the crew–even I don’t feel like it’s better than Terminator 2 or anything like that, but it was never going to be better than Terminator 2. You can’t go back in time and relive the nostalgia of that moment when you watch those movies for the first time. Even someone as young as yourself, you still probably watched the movie when you were young. And it had an effect on you.
Tim Miller
So I knew I couldn’t compete with those movies, I just wanted to make a good movie and I wanted to continue Sarah’s story with Linda doing it, and those are all things that we did. I don’t feel like I left anything on the field. We all put our heart and soul into it. And if people are going to hate it, I feel like it’d be nice if they judged it for what it is instead of heaping their past disappointments onto it. But you know, I didn’t expect that not to happen. You know, I don’t give a fuck.”
“You go into it with a pretty healthy attitude, it sounds like.”
BoxOfficePro
“Yeah. I mean look, you want people to like it, but there’s only so much you can control of people’s perception. I can’t change their past bitterness. But I knew it was there.”
Tim Miller
Polarising? Yes.
Reliving nostalgia… Attempted? Yes.
Succeeded? Mixed reviews.
The issue I take with Tim Miller’s statements is the suggestion that fans have no right to question his vision or direction. No right to have concerns, and that every person who ‘hated’, disliked or didn’t care about Terminator: Dark Fate had “heaped” their “past bitterness” and “disappointments” onto the new movie – making every non-positive review an attack.
This is not a healthy way to view opinions (or criticism) that don’t align with your own, i.e. ‘I only take in views that I agree with’.
Selective affirmation is not a substitute for the truth – and though opinions are subjective (as is taste), closing your eyes, ears and mind to opposing ideas will be harmful in the long-term. Not everyone is a ‘Yes’ man.
The Terminator franchise has had a long and bumpy road but many fans have dug in and hoped for the series to return to some kind of glory – loyalty isn’t something the fanbase is lacking, and concerns are perfectly normal.
Perhaps Mr. Miller should ask himself why the first two Terminator movies were so successful in the first place, before seeking to place blame… ?
Leave a comment…