Terminator: Genisys. And while those movies had issues that an R rating couldn't have fixed, their move to PG-13 is arguably indicative of the franchise's larger problems.
James Cameron's original they're aiming for the same rating at San Diego Comic-Con in July, but now it's a done deal.
Per Dark Fate's runtime being confirmed at 128 minutes, making it the second-longest Terminator film ever after Judgement Day (which ran for 137 minutes).
Directed by Tim Miller, Dark Fate is the first Terminator movie Cameron's produced since Terminator 2, and is based on a story that he developed with the film's co-writers David Goyer and Justin Rhodes. Miller proved he knows how to use the R rating as a storytelling tool on his feature debut, a direct continuation of Judgement Day, instead.
Even with all that working in the movie's favor, Terminator fans are still apprehensive about Dark Fate, and fairly so. Miller himself has itted the franchise was "tainted a little bit" after Terminator 2, and Dark Fate isn't the first sequel that's been propped up as a return to form for the property. The confirmed R rating is encouraging, though, and with Cameron and Hamilton both participating, this is the first Terminator film post-Judgement Day that feels like a full-blooded addition to Terminator 1 & 2. Whether Dark Fate itself lives up to those expectations, that's another matter.
Source: MPAA [via BOM]
