Terminator Series Robotic Reviews Editors review popular AI and robot centered movies M3gan

demise; by being lazy. Though some of the actors in this movie were a bit questionable, Violet McGraw, who plays the main character Cady, is one of the best child actors I’ve ever seen on screen. She reacts exactly how one would expect a kid to respond in her position: afraid, wary, and even a bit crazy.

The acting, though, is not the only notable prospect of this sci-fi horror. M3gan, the robot in question, was magnificently created by set directors to be an animatronic puppet with actors puppeteering her and radiocontrolling her face while a voice actor lip-syncing her dialogue. Unfortunately, like many horror movies, the audience is left wondering why one actor split up with another and why it took so long for somebody to shoot the gun already.

Nevertheless, M3gan was a surprisingly funny and attentiongrabbing watch that left me on my

Yael

Behar | Co-Editor THE TERMINATOR:

Terminator is the timeless story of robots – and A.I. – gone rogue. Everyone and their mom has seen this movie, and for good reason. The Terminator (Arnold Shwarzanegger) comes from the future to kill Sarah Connor, mother of John Connor (leader of the future rebellion against robots and SkyNet) leaving destruction in its wake. Its action packed, and filled with 80’s nonsense about robots. The Terminator has held up well in contemporary society, and even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve probably absorbed a good portion of it through cultural osmosis. A classic and necessary watch. I rate this movie 2nd place.

TERMINATOR 2: Judgment Day

Terminator Salvation is the only Terminator movie not to feature Arnold Shwarzanegger, and I feel that speaks very effectively at how mediocre this movie is. John Connor (Christian Bale), now an adult, leads a resistance against Skynet after Judgement daywith added time travel shenanigans. I feel this was one of the least memorable in the series, although it still managed to keep my attention with its very action intensive visuals. The CGI and SFX have improved since the last entry in the series, but if i’m being honest, every movie after the second takes a nosedive in quality and necessity. I rate this movie as 5th place.

TERMINATOR 5: Genisys

folk, the AI design and plot were fairly impressive. The purpose of WALL-E, the main robot of the film, is to clean up the trash the humans have left behind on the planet earth. This positive, innocent portrayal of robots is new to cinema, as the neighboring AI-focused movies often describe technology as something that will be the end of humanity. Instead of violent, murderous robots, WALL-E brings us a sweet, environmental-safe take on technology. Overall, no film is perfect, and WALL-E had its ups and downs.

Terminator 2 is by far the best Terminator. Judgment day has the same punchiness of the first, only this time, it takes a more heartfelt approach to the characters and plot. The Terminator returns, this time to help John Connor as a child live whilst being attacked by a different iteration of the first robot. It adds another layer to the complexity and sci-fi aspects of the first Terminator, but not so much that it’s difficult to understand what’s going on. The CGI and SFX are also radically improved since the last. I rate this movie 1st place.

TERMINATOR 3: Rise of the Machines

Terminator: Rise of the Machines is the worst of the best movies. It continues the story of Conner, aged 25, who is on the run from a new, self regenerating iteration of Terminator, sent by SkyNet, and his attempts to survive by utilizing the older version of the Terminator. While the movie does fall flat in its plot, it’s still a very viable and punchy action movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Terminator movies have the capacity to be ‘bad movies,’ but in almost every instance, Terminator is a good action movie. I rate this movie as 3rd place.

TERMINATOR 4: Salvation

By this point, there’s already too much Terminator lore. Each movie adds more layers to the evolving story with time travel - and if you aren’t watching all of these films consecutively, there’s a fair bit of ‘what is happening?’ Terminator Genisys adds more unnecessary time travel, and completely veers off the story that the audience has followed in the past four movies. The plot falls flat, although admittedly, its CGI is pretty killer. John Connor from the future sends back Kyle Reese to protect his mother in the past, which results in a new timeline. Honestly, how this movie is even relevant to the main story is beyond me. I rate this movie as 6th place, otherwise known as last.

TERMINATOR: Dark Fate

I’ve gone mad. I don’t know how many more Terminator movies I can take. I’ll give this movie credit where credit is due: as far as the last three movies have gone, Dark Fate is by far the best. Not only does it have the best CGI, it also has the most relevance to the prior plot line. Following things after Terminator 2: Judgment day, this film picks up with Sarah Connor who has survived numerous attempts on her life at the hands of SkyNet, and continues aiding the future rebellion in her timeline. This isn’t a good movie, its plot is pretty awful, but it is a decently entertaining action movie, and an… ending to the series. I rate this movie as 4th place.