Weekly Recap 15 | The Terminator Franchise & Doctor Who Series 3

Welcome to Weekly Recap! This is going to be a rather undiverse episode, but I’m hoping to get an essay out for you this week to make up for it. 

This week was dominated by the Terminator Franchise. I watched all 6 films, though like everybody else says, only 2 of them are actually worth the time. Starting with the very first one, The Terminator, is a non-stop thrill ride with a terrifying monster and brilliant backstory. The plot itself is rather barebones, but I love the aesthetic and adore the practical effects, which enhance the action to be awesome and the world to be mesmerising – be it the post-apocalyptic future with lasers piercing the mist, or the blue-lit 80s streets glowing with the spark of cyberpunk. The writing is nothing to write home about, yet that doesn’t stop this film from being an absolute blast from start to finish.

The Terminator: 
https://boxd.it/1KZ00p 
⭐⭐⭐⭐

But as great as the first film might be, it doesn’t even compare to what Judgement Day managed to achieve. Everything is heightened here, from the performances to the writing to the humour to the action to the cinematography to the special effects. More on that last one, because while Terminator 1 had a masterful use of practical effects, this enhances those practical effects with CGI that is utterly gorgeous, creating sequences that are mesmerising to behold to this day. And to make use of such awesome visuals are the characters, as everybody is more well rounded and enjoyable to watch here, used to great effect in this thrilling and thought provoking plot. The problem with the sequels – as I’ll elaborate on in just a minute – is that they were just superficial remakes of that barebones plot of the original, which while working magnificently for that first film, becomes tiringly repetitive as it’s reused over and over. But this uses the cat and mouse chase as a backdrop for the real meat of the story, exploring the morality of killing, the dichotomy between free will and determinism, and the nature of man reflected in the machine. Although it hardly analyses these themes with ultra scrutiny, it’s certainly enough to elevate it beyond mere spectacle to become something that is timelessly impactful. 

Judgement Day: 
https://boxd.it/1L6qN7 
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Which is why it’s such a shame that Rise of the Machines is utter garbage. But it’s highly enjoyable all the same, because despite the writing being pitifully bad, there is a lot of funny dialogue and clever twists on the gags that are seemingly integral to the identity of this franchise. The action set pieces are also insanely creative, with what has to be the absolute best car chase I’ve ever seen. A shame that the film has to be so much less than what the first two achieved, because I genuinely had such a good time watching this one. 

Rise of the Machines: 
https://boxd.it/1LebMp 
⭐⭐⭐

Interestingly enough, Salvation is the first Terminator film I ever saw as a kid. Or at least I thought it was, until I realised I must have only watched one scene somewhere in the middle then switched it off. I completely understand now how I forgot something like that, because this film is atrocious! I had some good laughs, but as a whole I was just completely disinterested in everything that went on, as the generic plot, mumbling dialogue, boring characters and ugly aesthetic coalesced into a tapestry of mindless action with none of the thrills of its predecessors. 

Salvation: 
https://boxd.it/1LmXbR 
⭐

Genisys I think is the first that made people start to actively resent the continuation of this franchise. But I’ll be honest, I do appreciate just how unapologetically insane the plot of this film is. As a lover of all things timey-wimey, I was naturally going to enjoy the convoluted mess that is this film, so the scientific jargon does not let down in its glorious stupidness. With that said, this is still painfully bad. An entertaining spectacle of mindless action with a healthy dose of silly explosions and visually marvellous high tech sequences, marred by an atrocious cast and abysmal writing. Emilia Clarke is the worst of the bunch, but Matt Smith is the most offensive with his embarrassing accent. The motifs are dumb and the dialogue is cringe, with Arnie looking bored out of his mind every second he’s on screen. Though I will say J K Simmons is wonderful to watch, as he steals the show every minute he decided to bless me with his presence. Still, I like this film more than Salvation, if only because it both looks nicer and was enjoyable in a so bad it was good kind of way. But the franchise is utterly messed up now, because although it was always a twisted timeline, it did actually make logical sense. This film throws any semblance of narrative consistency out the window, even going so far as to retcon T4 within the opening minutes, the butchering of the franchise only getting worse from there. 

Genisys: 
https://boxd.it/1Lwn7z 
⭐⭐

Now for the final film (or at least, I hope this really is the last film in this franchise), Dark Fate is the only Terminator film I saw in the cinema, and while I didn’t think it was a good film back then, after watching the entire franchise this week I can safely say that this is the most offensively mediocre. Just like what The Force Awakens did to Star Wars, Dark Fate practically makes the films that came before it obsolete, soullessly remaking the plot that was refined in the original, only without the heart, creativity and drive. Although I will always find Schwarzenegger’s scenes hilarious, the rest of the cast either frustrated me with their childishly incessant swearing, or bored me with their dumbed down dialogue. This film has no right existing, so despite it being marginally better than the irritating greyness of Salvation, it isn’t even so bad it’s good like Genisys to be worth my time. 

Dark Fate: 
https://boxd.it/1LHcLP 
⭐

Not to worry, my week wasn’t purely Terminator centric. I returned to my Doctor Who marathon after a short break to watch the final season of Attack on Titan, with Series 3 continuing to be just as perfect as the other 2 seasons. The Runaway Bride isn’t as good as The Christmas Invasion, but it’s still a fun Christmas Special all the same. Introducing Donna in a debut that is admittedly not as good as her later appearances, yet that doesn’t stop the episode from having a great sense of adventure to it – most notably with the motorway chase scene in the TARDIS, a feat so ambitious no one has dared to replicate it in any later episodes. 

Yet Donna still doesn’t become the companion, with Smith and Jones instead introducing the real companion of Series 3, Martha Jones. Now, I’ve seen a lot of people say that Martha Jones is underrated, and while I agree that Davies constantly putting her under Rose’s shadow ruined her chances of standing strong on her own terms, I do still find her rather annoying regardless. Maybe annoying is the wrong word, but she does do a lot of shrieking, and even says some really idiotic things, as though her brain has forgotten she’s supposed to be intelligent. But her first episode shows her at her best, and the Judoon are a brilliant concept, so in isolation this works as a fantastic first episode.

The Shakespeare Code and Gridlock continue the same formula of the previous 2 seasons, with an adventure in the past and one in the future to get a feel for the show as a whole in as concise a manner as possible. And these two episodes are great, with Shakespeare being brilliantly performed by Dean Kelly, and the witches lending themselves to some hilarious moments of morbid humour. Gridlock is an episode that sounds super boring on paper (and I did use to find this one boring as a kid) but it’s among the more mature episodes Doctor Who has produced. I know there’s no such thing as Macra, but they do create a nice menace from within the revolting fumes that plague the motorway. And that shot of New New York with all the flying cars is utterly gorgeous in a very Coruscantian way. 

The obligatory Dalek episode this season is actually very different in style to the usual Dalek stories. Dare I say it’s underrated, as the Modernist aesthetic is so beautiful. Ok, the Pig Slaves are a bit silly, but the premise of the Cult of Skaro hiding away in a lab and endeavouring to artificially evolve is genius. And if the look of that human-dalek is entirely make-up, then I’m mesmerised by what they created, as it looks so good. Tallulah with three Ls and an H’s accent is unforgivable though. 

Speaking of good make-up, The Lazarus Experiment is sorely lacking that. Yeah, as much as I love the design, the CGI for the monster is not good. But the episode is good regardless, with some nice philosophising that I wish was done more in the show. 42 is another one that gets discarded as among the weakest of the Davies era, and as Chibnall’s first episode I can understand the sentiment. And yet, I honestly think it’s pretty good. Maybe for the sole fact that it reuses the same aesthetic of The Impossible Planet that I adored last season – and there’s a lot of great cinematography sprinkled throughout – but this does feel like the best written script Chibnall has ever produced. Also, David Tennant is a great screamer.

Up next is a homerun of masterpieces, starting with Human Nature and The Family of Blood. Disguised as a human, the Doctor has been relegated to simply being in the dreams of John Smith, while the Family of Blood try to sniff him out like dogs. Daisy Steiner from Spaced (I really should rewatch that, as it’s the best sitcom ever made) makes an appearance, as well as Herr Starr from Preacher. This first part is pretty funny for what is essentially just a really long set-up for the actually important second part, but it’s the build-up that makes the emotional beats so effective as John Smith has to grapple with the fact that he has to kill himself to bring back the Doctor. The exploration of this idea is very Lockian, which is the theory of identity that a person’s sense of self is derived from their consciousness, and as we see in this episode, the Doctor and John Smith really are two different people in spite of physically being the same person. 

Anyway, enough showing off first year philosophy. Moffat’s third episode, Blink, is somehow simultaneously simple and complex at the same time. Moffat continues to prove why the laws of time are his, and why they will obey him. This may very well be the most iconic episode of Doctor Who, as I think it won several awards – and, of course, it tends to be the one that a lot of fans use to sell others on the show. It’s certainly the scariest, achieved in no small part by Hettie MacDonald’s phenomenal directing. I really should make a habit of calling out the directors of Doctor Who, as we strangely only prioritise the writers as the creators of each episode. But MacDonald’s direction is particularly stand out, with absolutely intense camera work. This episode also has a lovely aesthetic that I can only describe as ethereal in the way it quaintly captures my odd nostalgia of the early 2000s. And the mournful music by Murray Gold is… well… gold. Oh blimey, I can’t believe I’ve forgotten to mention Gold’s godly music until now. That is genuinely shameful, as it’s his pieces that elevate each episode to become so memorable. 

And the finale of Series 3 is the first 3-parter. Well, Utopia is debatable since it feels so different in aesthetic… Anyway, Captain Jack is back, with bountiful charisma that only makes me sadder he couldn’t be a permanent companion, as he’s genuinely better than The Doctor. The episode as a whole is kind of just fluff though, as it doesn’t become properly interesting until The Master is revealed in a crescendo as The Doctor realises the Face of Boe was being cryptically literal when he said “(Y)ou (A)re (N)ot (A)lone.” This leads into The Master being revealed as Harold Saxon, the enigmatic name that kept popping up during Series 3 in a manner similar to Bad Wolf and Torchwood. To be honest, the reveal doesn’t actually work since we never saw or heard him beforehand, as that would definitely have been an awesome twist. Regardless, I adore John Simm as The Master, and although that might just be nostalgia talking, I really don’t see why so many think his performance doesn’t work, as he’s so much damn fun with his pure sadism. Also, the sequence when the TARDIS team becomes fugitives is brilliantly directed by Colin Teague. I honestly can’t put my finger on why exactly (definitely putting to shame 3 years of film studies) but it just clicks so perfectly. And the shot of the sky tearing open to let in all the ‘Toclafane’ is sublime, with the Master grinning during his almost Biblical speech while he decimates humanity. Martha then becomes fantastic in the finale by becoming the lead, travelling a world devastated by genocide and kept under totalitarian control. Like Utopia, The Last of the Timelords is more character driven than plot driven, which is ok since the characters make the experience enjoyable enough, but it does mean that only the final part is memorable. With that said, it’s a shame the final part gets a bit silly in the manner in which The Doctor goes super saiyan thanks to humanity praying his name.

Even so, this entire season remains perfectly directed, written, scored and acted. And with the upcoming Series 4 being my favourite of the bunch, it’s clear that Davies era will be immortalised with an unwavering 5 stars.

Doctor Who - Series 3
The Runaway Bride ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Smith and Jones ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Shakespeare Code ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Gridlock ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Lazarus Experiment ⭐⭐⭐⭐
42 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Human Nature / The Family of Blood ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Blink ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Utopia ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Sound of Drums ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Last of the Timelords ⭐⭐⭐⭐