Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Movie Info

Looks like Arnold isn’t the only one who will be back

When Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) stopped the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who was after her son, she thought the future had been averted and her family was safe…but the return of another Terminator ended those dreams.  Now in 2020, a new Terminator called the Rev-9 has come to kill a young woman named Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes) in Mexico City and a cybernetically enhanced woman named Grace (Mackenzie Davis) has been sent back in time to protect her.  Tipped off to the attack by a mysterious benefactor, Sarah Connor finds herself fighting the future once again…and nothing can stop it.

Directed by Tim Miller, Terminator:  Dark Fate is a science-fiction action movie.  Following Terminator Genisys in 2015, the film serves as a reboot for the franchise and eliminates the films following Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) from the canon.  The film was met with average reviews and a poor take at the box office had planned sequels cancelled.

Kind of like the T-1000…but crappier

Terminator has been in a death spiral.  I’m under the belief that The Terminator is the best of the series due to its innovative nature and strong plot, but many think T2 is the best because of its high octane action and special effects.  Terminator 3 at least made the plot for T2 make sense (with the future being “delayed” or “slid” due to the destruction of Skynet), but both Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys were completely forgettable thought Terminator Genisys also served as a light reboot for the franchise.  Terminator:  Dark Fate shows an improvement over the last two sequels, but it is too little too late.

I think it would have been fun if the Rev-9 had turned into a watermelon for a sneak attack

Terminator:  Dark Fate said screw it.  They realized The Terminator and T2 worked, and the filmmakers decided to just go for a new target and a similar storyline…no Skynet and no John Connor.  With that, it sets up a new John Connor-Sarah Connor in Dani Ramos and a two-attack Terminator in the Rev-9 (primarily played by Gabriel Luna).  This is fine and the action is intense, but the unstoppable Rev-9’s attacks (enhanced by the technology advances in facial recognition and cameras on every corner) is too powerful.  With the T-900 who assassinated John Connor thrown in the mix, it just devolves into a long fistfight for the last thirty minutes or so…it loses momentum, and the action stops being fun and starts being tedious.

The cast is fine.  It is nice to have Linda Hamilton back in the role that made her famous, and she’s a reminder that female actors don’t have to be left behind as they age (though she does sounds like one of Marge Simpson’s chain-smoking sisters).  I liked Mackenzie Davis as Grace and Natalia Reyes has the “run and be scared” character.  Arnold Schwarzenegger feels shoehorned into the movie (but it is better than his computerized appearance in Salvation and his other appearance in Genisys).  I like Gabriel Luna’s Rev-9, but he still doesn’t top the T-1000 and seems like a downgrade in ways.

Dude…you ruined my hand!!!

The visuals of the movie are back in line with Terminator 2.  The stunts and action are pretty computer generated, but it doesn’t seem as jarring as some of the previous sequels.  There are some absurd chases and fights as you’d hope for in a Terminator movie, but they go on too long and substitute for doing anything unique with the plot.

Terminator:  Dark Fate could have rounded the corner for the franchise and put it on the right track, but over-done sequels killed the franchise.  Terminator:  Dark Fate was a Terminator for a new generation, but a lot of the new generation either didn’t care or felt they were fine with the old Terminator movies.  The Terminator is a long running franchise and maybe after a few years of “downtime” a new Terminator will arise…again.

Related Links:

The Terminator (1984)

Terminator 2:  Judgment Day (1991)

Terminator 3:  Rise of the Machines (2003)

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Terminator Genisys (2015)

The Sarah Conner Chronicles—Season 1 Review and Complete Episode Guide