Despite Kasey's analogy slash warning, Christian Bale signed on to play John Connor in the next THREE Terminator movies, one of which was rumored to have a cameo by the Governator (which has since been dispelled). Bale's casting has gone over well with the fans, who have instead reserved their ire for the "acronym" behind the camera. McG must sense that; in his blog entry he mentions "I've spent time with James Cameron, spoken to Arnold Schwarzenegger, gone over the story with Jonah Nolan and enlisted Stan Winston." I've never met the latter two, but I've "spent time" with James Cameron on two occasions at screenings (even asking him questions and shaking his hand) and I spoke to Ah-nold while he was making The Last Action Hero. By McG's rationale, I should be halfway to making Odienator 4: Rise of the Mack Daddy.

I try not to pass judgment before I see movies, but isn't Warners being a tad too ballsy in their commitment to a franchise rendered unrecognizable from its former installments? Suppose the first film is a monumental flop. Then what? Does the series just leave its continuing story line hanging, like Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins did back in the '80s? From the description in that EW piece linked to above, it sounds like the storyline follows the least interesting character in the series through at least 6 hours of cinema. It's the equivalent of the Star Wars Holiday Special where we got to spend far too much time with Chewbacca and his family. As much as I admire Christian Bale, a man who once lost 60 lbs to make a flop and who moonwalked with impunity before hacking someone to pieces in American Psycho, I can't go on faith with merely him. You go to see The Terminator for The Terminator.