Gary Varner

Gary Varner is a Science Fiction and Fantasy enthusiast with a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts, and he spends his time working and raising his daughter who he suspects will one day be president of the United States. For more reviews as well as serial novels, go to www.garypaulvarner.com to read more.

Archives

Terminator Dark Fate: A Sickening Conclusion

_{There is no actor alive who could deliver some of these lines in a believable way}_{Gary Varner
June 14, 2025}

I feel confident saying that the franchise is destroyed and will never recover, unless the creators admit that they’ve made some mistakes but that isn't likely.

Terminator Dark Fate: The “Family” Robot

_{Part 5: The idea that the robot Carl mechanically evolves a conscience is introduced but never explained}_{Gary Varner
June 7, 2025}

The mimicry-to-genuine humanity process can only work as a creative tool if the robot understands that humanity is an ideal to chase.

Terminator Dark Fate: We Meet the Sender of the Mystery Texts

_{At this point in the story, our characters clash with Border Patrol — and discover a Terminator with a conscience}_{Gary Varner
May 31, 2025}

Last Saturday, we saw that Sarah, Grace and Dani, realized that the person sending Sarah the mysterious texts was living precisely where Grace was supposed to go if she ran into trouble. Because the address is in Texas our dysfunctional trio must cross the border. Dani knows a guy she convinces to help them. Well, actually Grace cuts a fly in half, and that convinces him. But anyway. While traveling to the border, they hop on top of a train with a bunch of undocumented immigrants. During this ride, Sarah comes to believe that Dani is really another her. Sarah seems happy to relinquish her fatalistic mantle, but Grace is annoyed by this development. A less likeable Grace I mention this scene because, the character of Grace was actually likeable before she met Sarah. …

Terminator Dark Fate: Just Too Many Johns Now

_{Here’s Part 3 of my review: How multiverses and time travel can doom a story}_{Gary Varner
May 24, 2025}

There are plenty of dumb errors in movies, but Dark Fate made the most obvious mistake I’ve ever seen.

Terminator: Dark Fate: Welcome to the New Future

_{Which turns out to be the same as the old one. Here’s Part 2 of my review}_{Gary Varner
May 17, 2025}

The writers seem to have run out of ideas for new Terminators. They’re recycling the concept and adding new abilities — without thinking them through.

Terminator Dark Fate: Not As Bad As Genisys But Close

_{Here in Part 1, we also look at rumors of a new Terminator project in the works. Could some of the mistakes that plagued earlier films be avoided?}_{Gary Varner
May 10, 2025}

The actors are quite good and if their performances seemed canned at times, I blame the dialogue. They can’t draw blood from a stone.

Terminator Genisys Review, Part 10: Too Many Time Machines!

_{Terminator Genisys was simply removed from the canon, and for good reason, as we will see}_{Gary Varner
May 3, 2025}

I have warned about the perils of using time travel in storytelling. This movie is a prime example of the problems I was talking about.

Terminator Genisys Review Part 9: When Writers Hate a Character

_{Essentially, the writers hated John but knew the audience loved him, so they tried to hide their attitude; however, their contempt leaked into the script}_{Gary Varner
April 26, 2025}

Deprived of the natural motivations they started the story with, the characters become carbon cutouts of clichés that people have seen over and over again.

Terminator Genisys Review Part 8: The Evil Child Murders the Film

_{The screenwriters tried to adapt the Evil Child theme from horror films without allowing enough time to build the needed suspense}_{Gary Varner
April 19, 2025}

Making John Connor a villain also removes Sarah’s motivation to fight Skynet. Without that, she’s just another generic tough girl fighting an army of robots.

Terminator Genisys Review, Part 7: Now John Connor Is the Bad Hat

_{Why don’t Hollywood screenwriters understand the importance of what the audience thinks is at stake?}_{Gary Varner
April 12, 2025}

The way writers make fantasy engaging — and sci-fi is a form of fantasy — is by anchoring the hard-to-grasp concepts with familiar ideas.

Terminator Genisys Review, Part 6: Things Certainly Speed Up

_{But unfortunately, that means that built-in complications become even more tangled}_{Gary Varner
April 5, 2025}

Curiously, once Kyle Reese is safe, he is transformed from a confident, well-meaning soldier into an idiot with a surprising lack of common sense.

Terminator Genisys Review, Part 5: Too Many Terminators in Here!

_{The chaos created by tampering with the timeline of the franchise continues}_{Gary Varner
March 29, 2025}

The problem with resetting the timeline is that the audience’s emotional stake in the outcome necessarily diminishes when no events are permanent.

Terminator Genisys Review, Part 4: The Fatal Flaw, Revisited

_{Genisys didn’t perform well but it makes a good illustration of the issues science fiction writers face}_{Gary Varner
March 22, 2025}

I don’t know if the inconsistencies were enough to convince the powers that be in Hollywood to try to make an entirely different sequel but viewers tuned out.

Terminator Genisys Review, Part 3: Genisys’ Fatal Flaw

_{Terminator Genisys was seen in the industry as so bad that another sequel was proposed that effectively wiped this timeline from the canon}_{Gary Varner
March 15, 2025}

A critical plot decision — to give Skynet a key piece of information — makes Skynet’s Terminator strategy seem incoherent.

Terminator Genisys Review Part 2: A Colossal Monster Mash

_{The writers wanted the recreated scenes to be fond “memory berries” for the audience but they ran into problems setting them up properly}_{Gary Varner
March 8, 2025}

Terminator Genisys is one of those movies where that create a growing sense of unease that viewers can’t quite put a finger on.

Terminator Genisys Review, Part 1: What Was the Point?

_{When filming a sequel, it’s important to draw on the previous story, to keep the viewer emotionally invested in the characters}_{Gary Varner
March 1, 2025}

Genisys completely ignores everything set up in Terminator Salvation and Terminator 3 and assassinates John’s character, reducing the emotional stakes.

Terminator Salvation: Parting Thoughts on a Classic Technique

_{What the film does wrong, it does wrong in spectacular fashion, but what it does right is also done in spectacular fashion}_{Gary Varner
February 22, 2025}

A real problem in cinema is that bad story writing is often treated as successful because it is wafted along by the hype from a previous film in the series.

Terminator Salvation Review, Part 5: A Clever Plot Rescue

_{Having Marcus unexpectedly sacrifice his life for John got around the problem created when the audience "knows" that the hero is doomed}_{Gary Varner
February 15, 2025}

Science fiction is closer to comedy than tragedy so a device like this — technically, a retcon — is handy and the writers were smart to use it.

Terminator Salvation (2009) Part 4: Marcus, Unwitting Terminator

_{Marcus learns the horrible truth from Skynet that his mission was to terminate John Connor}_{Gary Varner
February 8, 2025}

Although the Resistance blows up Skynet's headquarters, the success of their mission turns on saving badly wounded John.

Terminator Salvation Part 3: A Return to Roots

_{This movie remembers what the second Terminator film forgot: the true nature of the machines}_{Gary Varner
February 1, 2025}

This film makes clear that the machines are the enemy because they are cold, and there is something special about being human.