Terminator: Dark Fate is the third reboot of the once-iconic Terminator franchise. After the critical and financial success of the first 2 films, Hollywood has desperately tried to continue the killer-AI robot story but has failed (from what I hear) every time. I’ve seen the first 2 Terminator flicks multiple times and love them but for some inexplicable reason, I never watched any of the other ones, which I hear are pretty sub-par anyways. Dark Fate completely ignores Terminator 3-5 and takes place directly after T2: Judgement Day.
Positives
Linda Hamilton is absolutely fantastic as Sarah Connor and brings a much-needed gravitas and emotion to the film. Her iconic character has been hardened through 3 films and this time, she’s snarkier than ever. But don’t let that fool you into thinking she’s just there to dump one-liners. There’s a lot of pain beneath her snark but she buries that to complete her mission, which is to kill Terminators. She also gets to kick a lot of ass and it’s absolutely enjoyable seeing her do so!
PS – I love this recent trend of taking an iconic female character from the previous century and bringing them as toughened badasses in the present day. We saw this with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, now Linda in Terminator. Fingers crossed for that Sigourney Weaver’s return as Ripley in a future Alien film!
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 (named Carl in the film) is probably the most ‘human’ he’s ever been in a Terminator film. He also gets some of the film’s funniest lines and sells the action once again. His dynamic with Linda is played extremely well and if this does end up being the swansong for Arnold’s character, it’s pretty satisfying!
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media, 20th Century Fox, and Tencent Pictures
The action is fairly well-shot and actually ends up feeling exciting! There is a LOT of action (in the air & underwater, in a warehouse, on a plane, etc.) and it never feels too much.
The new additions – Mackenzie Davis (enhanced super-soldier named Grace), Gabriel Luna (Rev-9 – the evil Terminator), and Natalie Reyes (the important resistance figure) infuse a much-needed jolt of freshness and diversity to the franchise and are surprisingly solid characters, especially Grace. Davis brings a lot to her role, especially through her physicality, and commands the screen with such elegant grace (sorry I had to).
Negatives
Dark Fate is a pretty formulaic movie with predictable twists and a familiar story beat. A terminator is sent from the future to kill an important resistance leader, in other words, this is also the plot of the other Terminator films.
Even though Gabriel Luna’s Rev-9 is pretty intimidating and ends up being a challenging foe for our heroes, he does not have a whole lot to do… In addition, we learn that Sarah Connor has been *behaving like a machine* and killing Terminators, while Arnold’s once-killer Terminator learns to become more human. That premise is arguably more interesting, and emotionally and intellectually stimulating than the paint-by-numbers film we end up getting.
Lastly, let’s not even delve in the Terminator timeline and time-travel rules because it frankly makes no sense. As Deadpool jokes in the first Deadpool film “these timelines are getting so confusing.” Side note, it’s fitting that Tim Miller (the director of the first Deadpool) also directed this new Terminator film.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media, 20th Century Fox, and Tencent Pictures
Rating – Solid Recommendation
Albeit nowhere as good or as emotionally resonant as Terminator 1 and 2, Dark Fate is a perfectly serviceable action film. Seeing Linda and Arnold on-screen again made for some engaging dialogue, and the action is pretty fun to watch as well. If you’re looking for entertaining, turn-your-brain-off kind of movie, Dark Fate is the one for you!
Naman's Movie reviews 