James Cameron Reviews Terminator Salvation

If you follow my tweets, then you know I ran around in circles to get some quality one-on-one time with the King of The World (and that's Earth and Pandora) known as James Cameron.

We had a terrific, b.s.-free conversation that, so I hope, will cut above the rest of the Avatar chatter that's flooding the Web right now.

For starters - what in the heck did the Man think of Terminator Salvation?

Jordan Hoffman: I know this was a very busy year for you, 2009, not that much free time.

James Cameron: Zero.

JH: But people want to know, did you get a chance to see Terminator Salvation?

JC: Yeah I did see it.  It probably didn't get a fair day in court because I had to watch it at night when I got home from work, over a period of two or three nights.  I think Sam [Worthington] is remarkable in the film because, well, I think Sam is remarkable in anything he does.  Interestingly, I think McG did a good job in the sense...I think he was almost too referential to the mythos of the first and second film.  He over-quoted them in a way?  It didn't feel to me to be enough of a reinvention.  I mean the thing we did with the second film is that we reinvented the first film completely; spun it on its ass and made the Terminator the good guy, and came up with a whole new concept for a villain, it felt fresh.  I didn't feel the fourth picture was fresh enough.  It also lacked a certain stamp of authenticity because Arnold wasn't in it.  I mean, he was in it briefly, digitally, but that's not the same thing.

JH: That's a good, measured response.  I mean, I enjoyed it.

JC: I didn't think it was bad.  I didn't think it was embarrassing.  I don't think he let the franchise down in some huge way, but I did feel some sort of unease that it didn't go beyond.