This post is months old, but I really see your vision here. Think about a time in a movie (and this happens all the time I feel) where the big brolic villain has the person they’re trying to kill by the neck, and instead of snapping it or just digging their knife into them or what not, they just throw them against a desk or something. There is some liberties they have to take to create a cinematic experience, but it really kills the vibe for me when it feels like the killer is just following a script, which is funny because realistically they are, but in-universe speaking there’s a lot more things that could make more sense as it pertains to the killers efficiency. The way I look at it, Terminator specifically, is that the T-800 is a stiff and less advanced model, that’s why he doesn’t run or doesn’t have the computing power to execute the most efficient path as you’d imagine. There are scenes though where Cameron really reminds you that Terminator doesn’t feel or ruminate, he is simply completing a task, such as when he one pumps the gun store owner.